Fancy Changing the Future?
by Vickie1996
Summary: After Sirius' death, Harry is unable to fulfil his destiny. Living under the harsh rule of King Voldemort, a girl sends a book into the past. A book called "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" very AU after book 5
1. The Letter

**Disclaimer - The characters, book and the whole Harry Potter Universe belongs to the amazingly talented author, J.K. Rowling. I am not making any profit or monetary gain by making this story blah de blah de blah.**

Now that's out of the way ... Hello lovely readers! It is a pleasure to be writing to people who share my love (and possibly obsession) of Harry Potter. By the summary you may understand that this is like many fics you have read before, where the characters find a book and read it, hopefully changing the future and opinions on certain characters yadda yadda yadda.

However, I, the Great Vickie1996 (dead original, don't you agree!) have taken this seemingly overused plot and twisted it to suit my own expectations. This fic shall be slightly AU ... okay, really AU after book 5. This is because after Sirius' death Harry goes mental. Well, not nearly as bluntly as I mentioned it, but anywho - Harry is unable to fight Voldie. So only one book shall get sent back! Why only one book, it shall be explained later. The fic shall start when Harry arrives at Grimmauld Place.

Now all the necessary information has been written, I can now get on with the story. Happy Reading :)

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**Fancy Changing The Future?**

The occupants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place were currently enjoying dinner, courtesy of Mrs Weasley. It had been a busy day and everyone was thankful for the relaxing atmosphere which surrounded the dinner table. Well, that was until a book, appearing from midair, landed heavily on said table. Suddenly, it was on the recieving ends of quite a few wands. Mad-Eye Moody, an old, grizzled auror, spoke out in a harsh, gruff voice. "If is someone's idea of a joke, you might want ta own up to it," there was a brief pause, the silence hung heavily in the once cheery room. "NOW!" A high pitched 'eep' echoed around the room as Tonks fell of her chair and onto the floor.

Harry Potter, a boy who recently turned 15, looked curiously at the book. He was one of the few children who had his wand pointed at the seemingly non-threating book. If anyone asked, he would have blamed quidditch reflexes. However, ever since Voldemort, the evil Dark Lord who had killed hundreds (including Harry's own parents), rose from the dead, Harry had never let his guard down. Fearing that if he did, someone close to him would be hurt. His voice, calm and gentle compared to Moody's gruff tones, spoke to the room at large.

"Why would anyone conjure a book as a joke. It's a pretty sad joke if it is." Harry looked at it, trying, and failing, to answer the consistant questions which wouldn't stop running through his mind. From the corner of his eye he saw the hand of Hermione Granger, Hogwarts resident genius and one of his best friends, reach toward the book. His wand then pointed at her hand. She froze, looking at Harry questioningly. Her eyes burned with anger at being stopped but Harry also detected a under current of fear. Fear for who? Him? That was impossible. Maybe it was the fact that he was pointing a wand at her. He answered her unasked question, "It could be a portkey." Harry shivered as he raised unwanted memories of his journey to the graveyard.

Most of the people shot him sympathetic looks, but a few nodded approvingly. Remus Lupin felt a bubble of pride well up in his chest as he prasied the boy he had taught. "Good instincts Harry. Hermoine, he's right. A book appearing out of nowhere is a tad suspicous." He raised an eyebrow as the young witch huffed, and folded her arms across her chest. Waving his wand over the book, it glowed a soft blue, providing proof to the room that it held no enchanments or charms. Slowly, he reached forward and grabbed the book. Everyone watched with baited breath. After a few seconds of nothing happening, a collective sigh of relief echoed across the kitchen.

Tonks, now standing (for how long that would last, no one would know) reached for the note which was still on the kitchen table. The note had been completely ignored by most as it was not exactly noticable. It was a folded neatly into a small square, no bigger than a postage stamp. Noticing the attention on her, Tonks blushed slightly, her once bubblegum pink hair changing into a soft pastel pink which matched her cheeks. Whilst everyone waited, rather impatiently, she unfolded the paper. She went slowly, making sure she didn't tear the paper. Finally, after a whole minute of careful unfolding, she held a A4 piece of paper, yes paper and not parchment, in her hands.

Clearing her throat Tonks got ready to read the contents of the mysterious letter. But before she could utter a sound, the letter was forcibly ripped from her grasp by non other than ... Sirius Black. Always one to appreciate dramatics, he quickly stood on the table, which was now dubiously devoid of any food. When he was sure he had everyones attention, he placed a pair of glasses on the end of his nose. No one bothered to ask where he had aquired them. Parroting his beloved second cousin, he cleared his throat, rather pompously in her opinion, and read -

_"Dear Order and Students ..._

_I am writing from the future to save the world, both Muggle and Magical. It is frowned upon to meddle with time as it defies the natural course fate willed us to take. However, desperate times call for even desperater measures. __The book which is in front of you is called, as Remus has already noticed, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is set during Harry's fifth year and hopefully, if my spell has worked, it will no longer be his future. After certain events which will emerge in the book, Harry is left unable to fulfil his destiny. Unfortunatly, this leaves the world undefended and shrouded in fear of King Voldemort's fury. Yes, Voldemort becomes a monarch of the wizarding world and does not stay content with just that. Soon he takes over the muggles, using them as slaves to do his bidding. Muggleborns are forcibly taken from their parents whilst still young and raised under the influence of the High King Voldemort. _

_All is not lost though. A secret orginisation still exsists to fight the opposing darkness. Even though we were forced into hiding, our spirit remains strong. We hope for a better future. We wish for our children to not live in fear. After long years of research, we hope we've found the answer. Inside the pages of the book are major events in our history which lead to the undoing of the light. We have given you a chance to change the future. To make the world a better place._

_The spell ensures that you must read the whole book and miss no parts. If you try to skip the beginning or any other chapters you will find the pages stuck together and unable to turn. It is written from Harry's point of view. We're sorry if this feels as though we've invaded your privacy, but only you had the knowledge and the significant memories to form the book. It is also impossible for any of you to use magic whilst you are reading the book. Do not worry about jobs or any other responsibility outside of this room as you are effectively frozen in time. This was the only way for the spell to work. You will be provided with food during the reading and you may take as long as you like to read the book and discuss what it reveals._

_Happy Reading,_

_Yours Sincerely, Serenity xxx_

There was an eery silence as everyone tried to process what Sirius just read. Suddenly, Molly Weasley burst into tears. Her only thoughts were of how her family, the family considered to be blood traitors, would fair if Voldemort did win. She pulled Ginny into a bone crushing hug and sobbed into her daughters hair. Remus fell heavily into a chair, his face a mask of disbelief. Tonks let out a sharp cry, leaning on Remus for support. Sirius whined pitifully, sounding like a wounded animal, and gracelessly fell of the table and onto the floor. Harry, unable to hold back his laughter any longer cried out with gleeful delight.

Moody, still trying to digest the announcement that they lost the war, looked at Harry sharply. "What are you laughing at boy, we lost the war." Mad-Eye glared at the teen as he continued to chuckle. Harry, still tittering, casually waved his hand in the direction of the book. Only Hermoine noticed the action and soon joined in with Harry's giggles. Everyone looked extremely confused as the two students grinned at what was the worst piece of news imaginable.

Observing the varying states of incredulity, Harry picked up the book. Whilst pointing at the book he spoke to Moody, his voice still holding traces of amusment. "You are so worked up that we've lost the war, you've completely forgotten that we can win the war. We have a book from the future - this is even better than help from a seer. We can change the future, we can change this war." After his short speech, there were a few mumurs of agreement around the room. Harry went to sit down again next to Ron. His best mate looked at him with mirth lacing his eyes.

"You don't do things by half, do you mate? I mean, you've got books written about you." Ron grinned easily. The kids around the table laughed, thankful that the depressing mood was lifted. Once everyone was sat round the table Moody picked up the book.

"We may as well take turns reading, don't want someone to lose their voice and not be able to cast spells." Mad-Eye looked at the order members and they all nodded, not wanting the war veterans anger turning on them. Harry did not point out that it was impossible to cast spells whilst reading anyway. Just as Moody was going to open the book Molly interupted. She was in mother mode; hands on hips, fierce glare and tapping her foot impatiently.

"I believe the children should go to bed, they shouldn't have to read things about the war. They're just children." Molly did not direct this at Mad-Eye, she was looking at every child in the room and conveying the fact they should not be here. She thought everyone would agree with her, or at least, not have the nerve to stand up to her. Unfortunately, it seemed that Molly forgot that the big child himself, Sirius Black, was also in the room.

"Now wait a minute! If the letter is right, I'm pretty sure that this is about Harry and is in his perspective. That means they'll be in Hogwarts! So I think they should be allowed to read about what happens this year. You can't leave them ignorant Molly. Being blind has no advantages." Sirius crossed his arms in defiance as Molly tried to set him on fire with her glare. She was about to further their argument when Moody banged his fist on the table.

Seeing everyone jump and turn to him he shouted "Constant Vigilance!" He took the book and opened the page. He looked at Molly with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if she was going to argue with him. Molly looked away but did not continue her arguement.

Moody went to read the chapter title when the fireplace roared with green flames and spat out an elderly wizard. His long, silver beard was currently sporting several patches of soott but otherwise he looked unaffected by the floo travel. He looked at the assembly of wizards and witches, all waiting for Moody to read. He smiled delightedly. How nice, a group story. He grabbed an unoccupied chair and plucked the book from Moody's hand.

Dumbledore started, cheerfully so considering the chapters title.

**"Dudely Demented"**

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Thank you for reading - t'is much appreciated. If you have any comments, questions or possibly praise - do not hesitate to** review**. (See how I put the review in bold - that means click the little hypalink at the bottom and review this fic!)

Thanks again for reading - till next time ...

Vickie1996


	2. The Start

**Disclaimer - I do not own any of the HP Universe. If I did, I would not be writing fanfiction. I would be writing books. I would also be rich. Which I'm not. **

Hello again dear faithful readers. I bring to you Chapter 1! You may be wondering how Dumbledore entered through the floo when they are frozen in time. Well my beautiful readers, you shall find out soon enough! Patience my lovely's. T'is a virtue. Also, I'm not sure when the twins find out who the Marauders are, so they only find out round this chapter or the next :D If they find out in Goblet of Fire, just ignore that tid bit of info ... You may have noticed that I changed my pairing to Harry and Hermione. I haven't really been overly hyped about the pairing but it works nicely for my fic. If you don't like this - sorry. You can suggest other people if you want. Nothing is set in stone :)

I never really understood how long it was going to take me to write this chapter and I have discovered it took a fair while. I started it last night and continued this morning and half a day before that! I've stopped for short breaks but other than that I've been writing non stop all day. Thats why I have come to the conclusion that when school starts again I willl be unable to have fast updates. Sorry guys ...

I would like to thank my big sister Sarah who looked over my work. She thought of a few ideas but do not be fooled. I am the true genius behind the writing! Now that the note I was forced to make is out of the way, I shall continue with my sincere thank you's. Thank you to every single person who has read this fic. Whether you know it or not, I really appreciate the support. Now all the sentimental crap is done, without further ado ... on with the story

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**Fancy Changing The Future? **

Dumbledore started, cheerfully so considering the chapter title.

**"Dudley Demented" **

Moody was glaring at Dumbledore, both eyes set on making him as uncomfortable as possible. Hermione's face was screwed up in confusion. According to the letter, they were frozen in time. Then how come Dumbledore was able to come through the floo? All these questions were not going to be answered by her brain, she knew. So she decided to voice it out loud. "I was under the impression that we were frozen in time. If so, how was Dumbledore able to floo in. Surely that would be impossible!" Her voice seemed to get higher as she was carrying on the sentence, causing a few people close to her to wince slightly.

Before anyone could respond, another letter materialized, floating casually down until it hit the table. Quickly, a few people shot to their feet, trying to grab the letter before anyone else. In this struggle was Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin and Hermione Granger. Everyone else looked on with morbid curiosity as the foursome wrestled, scratched, bumped, hit, punched and whacked. Finally, a disheveled Sirius was laying on the floor with Tonks sat on his torso looking dazed. Her hair was an interesting shade of yellow. Remus was lay on the table with Hermione straddling him. She had her fist raised in triumph and a letter was clenched between her fingers.

Unfolding the letter, she made her self comfy on top of Remus. No one, not even the Twins, would joke about the position she was currently in, they feared her to much. After that display, who wouldn't? Clearing her throat quietly, she raised the letter in front of her.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Your question is actually very valid. The reason Dumbledore was able to enter was because I allowed him to. He was needed for the reading. That's why he felt inclined to check on headquarters. It's almost like a compulsion charm but not. I imagined that he should be there for the discussions. Now, stop delaying and on with the reading!_

_Yours Sincerely, Serenity xxx_

Everyone looked at Hermione, who was currently pouting. Remus coughed slightly and quicker than anyone had ever seen Hermione move, she was in her chair and blushing so red it would make a Weasley proud. The Twins could no longer hide there sniggers, even when Hermione glared at them. She glanced at Dumbledore, silently pleading to start reading. Dumbledore just chuckled merrily and settled himself in his chair. Opening the book once again to the right page he began with the story.

**"Dudley Demented **

**The hottest day of the summer was so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing - for the use of hose pipes had been banned due to drought."**

**"**Professor Dumbledore, Sir. You don't think that Voldemort could control the weather? After all, if he could manipulate the weather it would have no effect on wizards and Witches. Even most low average Wizards can cast an Augamenti charm. But a drought could cause muggles to be run out of their homes - maybe travel abroad. You don't think that's possible do you Sir?" Hermione looked at Dumbledore, her eyes wide with the possibilities her theory presented. It would be incredibly dangerous to have a deranged Dark Lord controlling the weather, who knew what could happen.

"Don't you think your getting a bit paranoid Hermione? I'm sure he's not the cause of the drought. After all, I haven't seen it raining Avada Kedavra curses, so we must be safe." He gave her an easy smile, which caused her heart to flutter and her stomach to flip. The twins snickered at his humor and Ron just snorted. A few titters escaped from many of the adults in the room. However, Dumbledore looked deep in thought.

"I do not think he is the cause of this drought, as young Harry said, he would most likely do something far more dramatic if he could control the weather. I have not read of any spell that could control the weather to such an extent. However, it is a very curious idea." However, Bill seemed to disagree as his face was lined with worry.

"I've seen a few rituals from my time in Egypt about controlling the weather. There is one which suits this purpose. It was said that a man who was next in line to the throne was banished from the country so he could never take his title. As pay back he brought a drought to the town where he was raised and caused every plant, crop and animal to die. With no source of food the towns folk could no longer survive and they too died. I thought the knowledge was lost but it could be possible that Voldemort," many people seated round the table flinched at hearing his name " is using this to repel muggles from England." Bill looked very worried now. The rest of the table looked slightly ill, thinking about Voldemort being able to cause millions to die with the weather. Harry was given a bizarre mental image of Voldemort dancing and singing in the rain, with an umbrella perched on his shoulder. Before he could share his random thought with Ron, the headmaster continued reading.

"**Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in hope of tempting in a non existent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flower bed outside number four. "**

"Well I wonder who that could be?" Said Fred, his face scrunched up in mock confusion.

"You don't think it could be Harry Potter, do you?" Answered George, looking at Harry who was, at present, blushing slightly and looking down at the table.

"I think it might be dear brother!" Fred was also looking at Harry and tried to hold back his laughter at the young wizard.

**"He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time."**

"Impossible!" One twin said.

"Never!" The other stated.

"Harry Potter - grow! Clearly not!" They declared in unison.

"Yes, but who else do you know who is skinny, black-haired and bespectacled?" Ginny asked, trying to subdue her desire to giggle. This was made harder by the poisonous glare Harry sent to her and the twins. Before Harry could defend himself and his physical appearance, Dumbledore carried on.

"**His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers. **

Quite a few Order members scowled at the mention of Harry's garments, Sirius more so than the others. He had always suspected that Harry was not treated right by his relatives and often thought his behavior pointed towards neglect. Unfortunately, Sirius never got the time to talk to Harry about his home life and if he tried to bring the subject up it was skillfully changed to another subject, such as his parents or quidditch. Maybe this book would unveil some answers he desperately wanted.

"**Harry Potter's" **The Twins whooped and high-fived each other and the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Remus and Tonks shook their heads fondly at the duo. "**appearance did not endear him to the neighbors, who were the sort of people who thought scruffiness ought to be punishable by law" **

"They sound absolutely charming, them neighbors of yours, perhaps we should visit them some time." George said, his nose stuck in the air and a slight haughty expression on his face.

"It sounds delightful Forge, perhaps we'll introduce them to our good friend Mundungus." Fred commented, an evil smirk playing on his face. Sirius and Remus looked at each other, their gaze secretly portraying a message to one another. They approved. All round the table people laughed except Mundungus, who was currently napping, his chin resting against his chest. When everyone turned their attention to him he let out a rather undignified snore and mumbled incoherent words, drool forming on his lips and dribbling down his chin. The group all seemed disgusted by his actions.

"**but as he was hidden behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passers-by."**

The whole table was now staring at Harry, who was extremely restless under their gaze. Again, his cheeks flushed a rosy pink and he looked down at his hands. "I wonder why your hiding down there? Not spying I hope." Sirius asked, mock anger evident in his tone. Harry chuckled, along with the other students. Molly looked at Sirius appraisingly for making Harry relax. She had found it a hard thing to do as he seemed to be always on guard. Her thoughts were soon flooded with insults to the Dursleys, who she knew had done something to Harry.

"**In fact, the only way he would be spotted was if his Aunt and Uncle stuck their heads out of the living-room window and looked straight down into the flower bed below." **

"Aha! He has truly found his Marauder instincts to find such a fabulous hiding spot!" Remus pronounced, grinning widely at Harry who just smiled timidly back. George and Fred exchanged glances. What did their ex-defense professor know of the Marauders?

"**On a whole, Harry thought he was to be congratulated on his idea of hiding here." **

This line caused the twins to reach over and shake Harry's hand (a hand for each twin) and kept on repeating "Oh, Harry. Congrats. We're so proud." Ron, following the twins lead patted Harry on the back.

"Well done mate." Everyone was now congratulating Harry and the boy in question was sporting a permanent blush.

"**He was not, perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard earth but, on the other hand, nobody was glaring at him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not hear the news, or shooting nasty questions at him, as happened every time he had tried sitting down in the living-room to watch television with his aunt and uncle." **

"I would have given up by now. Its only a tellafision after all. Plenty more fun in playing chess or eating or playing quidditch or eating ... wait, did I say eating twice?" Ron looked somewhat confused. Harry and Hermione laughed at their friend and rolled their eyes in fake exasperation. Sirius looked on in delight as he was reminded of how he, Remus and James had acted with each other. He thought it lucky that they didn't have a traitor in the group. His thoughts promptly turned darker, but he dared not let it show on his face for fear of Harry's concern.

"**Almost as though this thought had fluttered through the open window, Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, suddenly spoke." **

"Now now Harry, what have we spoken about. Always keep your thoughts happy inside your head or they'll try to get out." Hermione spoke slowly to Harry. This was the beginning of a fresh round of chortling. It was unusual that Hermione joked with the boys in such a crowded place, when she preferred to joke and mess about with them in private (mind out of the gutters!) so as not to tarnish her strict and sensible persona. Both Ron and Harry understood this and were glad she could finally start trusting the people in this room.

" '**Glad to see the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he, anyway?'**

"A lot closer than you think" Ginny said in a creepy, Trelawney impression.

"** 'I don't know,' said Aunt Petunia, unconcerned. 'Not in the house,' "**

"How can she just say that! Doesn't she know that trouble seems to find you anywhere you go!" Molly cried and stood up quickly, crushing him in a smothering hug. She constantly recalled of what her son, as that is what she thought of Harry, had to go through. It's just not fair!

"**Uncle Vernon grunted. **

_**'Watching the news**_** ...' he said scathingly. 'I'd like to know what he's really up to. As if a normal boy cares what's on the news - Dudley hasn't got a clue what's going on; doubt he knows who the Prime Minister is! Anyway, it's not as if there'd be anything about **_**his**_** lot on **_**our**_** news -' "**

"Well, it's not our fault if your pig of a son has the same amount of intelligence as a flobberworm! That's even an insult to a freakin' flobberworm! And Harry was trying to see if anything in the war had escalated to being important enough to warn muggles about, actually. You see, he's using a thing called intelligence which you are obviously not familiar with!" Hermione ranted at the book, taking deep breaths to calm herself down, her face going from red to her natural complexion. Everyone was watching her carefully, as though she was going to explode. She looked at her lap in embarrassment.

The silence was broken by the twins clapping, their faces shone with pride. "Well said Hermione!" Fred roared in approval.

"Bravo!" Cried George. The tense silence was now broken with good humored jokes and laughter.

" **' Vernon, shh!' said Aunt Petunia. 'The window's open!' " **

"Ah, nice to see muggles even respect the Statute of Secrecy." Tonks beamed at everyone, who were presently looking at her as though she was verging on insane.

"** ' Oh - yes - sorry, dear.' "**

Remus and Sirius struggled to contain their laughter as they distinctly heard, with their sensitive hearing, one of the Weasley twins muttering "Whipped."

"**The Dursley's fell silent. Harry listened to a jingle about Fruit 'n' bran breakfast cereal while he watched Mrs Figg, a batty cat-loving old lady from nearby Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past. " **

"Harry, you shouldn't call people such things," Mrs Weasley chided gently. Harry just shrugged, they were his thoughts after all and no one was supposed to hear them.

" **She was frowning and muttering to herself. Harry was very pleased he was concealed behind the bush, as Mrs Figg had recently taken to asking him round for tea whenever she met him in the street." **

"You honestly didn't find that at all suspicious?" Ron asked, looking at the normally paranoid boy. Harry, again shrugged. How was he to explain that after years of knowing her, he never suspected she was anything other than the mad cat lady. How can you explain to someone who doesn't live in Little Whinging how abnormal it was for things to change around there; whether it was the people or the place itself.

"** She had rounded the corner and vanished from view before Uncle Vernon's voice floated out of the window again.  
'Dudders out for tea?'  
'At the Polkiss',' said Aunt Petunia fondly. 'He's got so many little friends, he's so popular ...'  
Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. The Dursleys really were astonishingly stupid about their son, Dudley.**

"No, I'm sure they're astonishingly stupid about everything." Ginny quipped. Laughter soon invaded the room again and Harry smiled at the people he cared about. Being surrounded by laughter and friends was really the best way Harry could spend his days.

" **They had swallowed all his dim-witted lies about having tea with a different member of his gang every night of the summer holidays." **

"Ewwww ... They had to swallow something of Dudley's !" The twins said in disgust.

"I feel sorry for the poor souls ..." Seeing everyone stare at him with certain disbelief, Sirius lifted his nose into the air and at that moment looked every bit a noble Black. "You don't believe me. Hmph. I was only being perfectly honest and caring and you just have to take away my sense of good will. After all I've done and ..."

"Sirius, if you truly feel sorry for the Dursely's I want you to solemnly swear it," Remus interrupted his rant. Sirius looked at Remus with something akin to horror in his eyes.

"Fine, I admit it, I think they deserve it. Just never, ever ask me to solemnly swear about ... them!" He said their names with such revulsion it made Harry wonder if he had accidently drank Goyle's polyjuice potion. To Harry, it was the most disgusting thing he had ever drank. Meanwhile, Fred and George stared at each other wide eyed. They seemed to be having a silent conversation.

'Surely they couldn't.'

'But the clues all add up.'

'It could be a coincidence.'

'True, but why else would he say solemnly swear.'

'It might not just be a Marauder thing.'

'Do you honestly believe that?'

'... No.'

There silent conversation was cut short as Dumbledore began speaking again.

"**Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley had not been to tea anywhere; he and his gang spent every evening vandalizing the play park, smoking in street corners and throwing stones at passing cars and children." **

**"**How could any child be so horrid! Its terrible! The parents should be ashamed of themselves. If he was my child I'd have him over my knee and I'd tan his hide!" Molly shrieked. All the Weasley children shifted in their seats uncomfortably. They each remembered when they had been punished as children for severely m misbehaving. Nervously, they all tried to inch away from their mother, hoping she would calm down quickly.

"**Harry had seen them at it during his evening walks around Little Whinging; he had spent most of the holiday wandering the streets, scavenging newspapers from bins along the way." **

"You really wanted to know that bad, huh?" Sirius asked softly. Harry, unable to control his building anger spat out the words he was wanting to scream.

"I would have done bloody anything to hear something, anything! Even if it just said he was lying low. Anything would have been better than being ignorant of what the hell was going on." Although he was itching to say it, Harry didn't. Harry didn't want to admit that not knowing made him feel unprepared and weak. He couldn't be weak. He just couldn't. The weak never survive!

Nobody commented on his language, how could they when they were face with an extremely angry teenager who was capable of defeating dark lords. Before anyone was treated to a sound, verbal thrashing by Harry, Dumbledore read on.

"**The opening notes of the music that heralded the seven o'clock news reached Harry's ears and his stomach turned over. Perhaps tonight - after a month of waiting would be the night." **

One of the twins went to interrupt but Molly gave them a fierce glare that stopped any thought of them disturbing Dumbledore.

"**Record number of stranded holiday-makers fill airports as the Spanish baggage-handlers' strike reaches it's second week - .**

**'Give 'em a lifelong siesta, I would,' snarled Uncle Vernon over the end of the newsreader's sentence, but no matter, outside in the flower bed, Harry's stomach seemed to unclench. If anything had happened, it would surely have been the first item on the news; death and destruction were more important than stranded holiday-makers. **

**"**You never know, them holiday-makers are pretty darn special," Hermione said with a small smile. Only a couple of people chuckled, a few looking at the the Boy-Who-Hated-His-Name-Hyphenated. He seemed to have calmed down a bit but no one was going to test his facade. No one wanted the wrath of Harry Potter unleashed on them.

"**He let out a long, slow breath and stared up at the brilliant blue sky. Every day this summer had been the same: the tension, the expectation, the temporary relief, and then mounting tension again ... and always, growing more insistent all the time, the question of why nothing had happened yet. " **

"Well I thought it was obvious," Tonks said, her hair flashing to purple. "Moldieshorts is buying his time, just waiting until there's a perfect opportunity to strike." Harry just looked at her for a moment and then let his head fall to the table. Hard. Everyone heard a dull thud as Harry's forehead connected to the thick wood. Hermione looked concerned and patted his shoulder consolingly.

"I think's he understands that now. This did happen before he knew anything." Hermione spoke to Tonks, trying to silently plead with her to not further frustrate Harry.

"**He kept listening, just in case "**

"Good lad. remember ... CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Everyone jumped, except Harry who had his wand pointed atMoody's throat. Moody just nodded, happy that someone had finally understood his message. Although he wouldn't admit this aloud, he was quite sad that a boy, not even of age yet, could understand the hardships of war and the cost of not being aware. Moody watched, quietly taking in the boy's chagrin. Dumbledore also observed Harry, maybe it was time to tell him the prophecy. He seemed ready.

"**there was some small clue, not recognized for what it really was by the Muggles - a unexplained disappearance, perhaps, or some strange accident ... **

"At least you had some clue what to listen for. I once had a muggle friend who told me all about them headlines during the last war." Emmeline Vance said. She remembered the days at the height of the war and shuddered at the memories.

"** ... but the baggage-handlers' strike was followed by news about the drought in the South-East ('I hope he's listening next door!' Bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'Him with his sprinklers on at three in the morning') " **

George waggled his eyebrows at Fred. Fred exclaimed "oo-er," This was to much for the room and they all burst into untamable laughter. Dumbledore cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"** , then a helicopter " **

"Oooh, what's an ellicopter?" Mr Weasley asked, curious. He had managed to hold back his questioning for a fair few minutes but he needed an outlet for the queries which were running wild through his head.

Hermione got ready to reply and tell Mr Weasley about the basic's of helicopters. However, before she could a hand was covering her mouth. Harry gave her a pointed look and then turned to Mr Weasley, still not releasing his hand. "Why don't you ask questions at the end of the chapter about anything you don't understand. Then we won't keep interrupting the book." Harry said kindly. Mr Weasley nodded excitedly and, out of who knows where, he pulled out a quill and parchment. Harry watched amused as he wrote down, in a neat italic script, Elliecopter.

"** that had almost crashed in a field in Surrey, then a famous actress' divorce from her famous husband ('as if we're interested in their sordid affairs,' sniffed Aunt Petunia, who had followed the case obsessively in every magazine she could lay her bony hands on).**

**Harry closed his eyes against the now blazing evening sky as the newsreader said, ' - and finally, Bungy the budgie has found a novel way of keeping cool this summer. Bungy, who lives at the Five Feathers in Barnesly, has learned to water ski. Mary Dorkins went to find out more." **

Mr Weasley was scribbling furiously on his parchment and out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the twins get out their own parchment. If he read correctly, it was titled 'Prank Ideas'. Hopefully, Harry thought, I won't be turning into a water skiing budgie anytime soon.

"** Harry opened his eyes. If they had reached water-skiing budgerigars, there would be nothing else worth hearing. He rolled cautiously on his front and raised himself on to his knees and elbows, preparing to crawl out from under the window. **

**He had moved about two inches when several things happened in very quick succession.**

**A loud, echoing **_**crack **_**broke the sleepy silence like a gunshot; a cat streaked out from under a parked car and flew out of sight; a shriek, a bellowed oath and the sound of breaking china came from the Dursely's living-room, and as though this was the signal Harry had been waiting for he jumped "**

"Not a good idea, Harry," Hermione said, frowning.

"Why not? That's good instinct, what if someone had tried to kill him?" Ron asked, confused.

"Because," Hermione sighed "he's still under the window." Everyone winced in sympathy for the teen who was currently rubbing his head slightly where it had previously been hurt.

"**to his feet, at the same time pulling from the waist band of his jeans" **

"I really do need to buy a wand hostler. It's elementary wand-safety. Can't have me losing a buttock, can I Moody?" Harry mused. Tonks snickered but stopped quickly by the heated glare sent to her by Mad-Eye.

"**a thin wooden wand as if he were unsheathing a sword -"**

"But you already have a sword," Ginny said. "There's no need to pretend your wands one." Harry just put his face into his hands, desperately asking his sanity to remain intact.

"** - But before he could draw himself up to his full height, the top of his head collided with the Dursleys' open window."**

"Sound's painful mate. Might want to have it looked at. It may have addled what little brains you've got." Ron said, feigning distress. Chuckles followed his statement. Harry just pouted, looking every bit adorable in that moment. Hermione giggled slightly at her best friends.

"So you side with him, traitor!" Harry cried, getting up from his seat and taking the empty seat next to Tonks. "I hope you don't mind me sitting here. But I'm in need of a new best friend and I can tell that you have the right qualities," Harry winked at Tonks. The witch in question blushed slightly, going unnoticed by most.

"Of course I'll be your new best friend! We were made to be best friends!" Tonks chirped.

"And what are we, turnips?" George demanded, outraged.

"After all we've done for you!" Fred sobbed. "You just push us aside."

Harry patted Fred's arm considerately. "I'm sorry Gred, I just don't think this will work anymore. We're through." As Fred blubbered into his twins shoulder, all the students chortled in glee. Even one or two order members looked faintly amused.

"** The resultant crash made Aunt Petunia scream even louder." **

"That's right, scare the old bag!" Sirius cheered. He purposely ignored the disapproving look Molly sent him.

" **Harry felt as though his head had been split in two. Eyes streaming, he swayed, trying to focus on the street to spot the source of the noise, "**

"Good boy, don't get distracted." Moodypraised.

"**, but he had barely staggered upright when two large purple hands reached through the open window and closed tightly around his throat." **

Gasps echoed around the room. Sirius was seething in anger, how dare they hurt his pup! Remus was growling, his eyes turning amber, his cub was abused by those monsters and he did nothing to stop it. Mrs Weasley started crying again and ran to Harry, pulling him into yet another bone crushing hug. Dumbledore's voice rose above the rising crescendo of anger. "Why did you not tell us of your relatives treatment of you, Harry?" The headmaster looked every single one of his 100 plus years. His face was creased with worry and his eyes no longer sparkled their famous blue.

Harry just shrugged, still trying to breathe whilst being embraced by Mrs Weasley. "It wasn't important. It's not so bad. They've never beaten me or anything." Harry struggled to say this as his ribs were threatening of breaking. He sighed quietly in relief when Mrs Weasley let go.

"Not all abuse is being beaten Harry." Dumbledore said softly. Harry looked up, eyes wide and defiant.

"I'm not abused! Just because me and my relatives don't get on does not mean I'm abused!" Harry shouted. The room's temperature had dropped and a slight chill could be felt.

Dumbledore felt an immense amount of regret. If only he had listened to Minerva in the first place. Sirius, still angry at what had befallen his godson, stared menacingly at Dumbledore. He looked at Harry and said in a voice which left no room for arguments, "We'll talk later."

"There's nothing to talk about!" Harry growled. An invisible wind was blowing through his hair and he looked strikingly intimidating. Before he could continue to vent his ire, a letter emerged and danced with the chaotic wind. After a few seconds of following the winds course, the letter then zoomed across the room into Dumbledore's hand. Looking at the letter apprehensively he unfolded it and began to read it aloud.

_Dear Dumbledore, _

_Although I appreciate your concern for Harry, these things can be sorted out later, possibly after you've read the first chapter. Also, I highly suggest you don't get Harry too angry. I said it was impossible to cast spells but it's possible to perform accidental magic. So, unless you want to be stuck in a form of a goat with no way to turn back until you've finished the book, I advise you to not let the accidental magic get too far out of control. _

_And Harry, deep breathes. Count from one to a big number. Now I've delivered my extremely important note, I shall allow you to continue your story ... _

_Your Sincerely, Serenity xxx_

Everyone tried to digest the information they were just presented with. If accidental magic was possible then they could be in some serious crap. Harry's magic has always been fairly wild and uncontrollable. One sentence took the wrong way could mean them being blew up into a balloon or something worse. Harry, seeing the frightened and wary expressions around him sighed. Great, he thought, everyone's going to be walking on eggshells around me.

"You do know I'm not going to blow up, right?" Harry asked. The students just smiled at him, not in the least bit concerned. The order members just nodded, still wondering what horrific fate would become of them if they angered the boy. Dumbledore though looked deep in thought. Perhaps Harry could perform wandless magic. It was an interesting theory, but now was time for reading. He lifted the book up and continued to read.

"** 'Put - it - away !' Uncle Vernon snarled into Harry's ear. 'Now! Before - anyone - sees!' **

**'Get - off - me!' Harry gasped. For a few seconds they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncle's sausage-like fingers with his left hand, his right maintaining a firm grip on his raised wand. " **

"Harry! Harry! Harry!" Chanted the students, Tonks and Sirius.

**" ; then, as the pain in the top of Harry's head gave a particularly nasty throb, Uncle Vernon yelped and released Harry as though he had received an electric shock. Some invisible force seemed to have surged through his nephew, making him impossible to hold." **

"Whoo!" the chanters soon became cheerers as they applauded Harry's victory.

Moody was examining Harry. It took some skill, and not to mention power, to be able to use accidental magic effectively. Dumbledore was following the same thoughts as Mad-Eye and considered testing Harry to see if he could achieve wandless magic. Brought out of his thoughts by Molly admonishing the students about indoor voices, he started reading again.

"**Panting, Harry fell forwards over the hydrangea bush, straightened up and stared around. There was no sign of what had caused the loud cracking noise, but there were several faces peering through various nearby windows. Harry stuffed his wand hastily back into his jeans and tried to look innocent. **

"Harry, look innocent, never!" The twins declared. However, Ron, Hermione and Harry exchanged smiles. Harry's innocent mask had saved them numerous detentions and point reductions when they were seen breaking the rules. Harry just looked at the twins, his green eyes wide and bright; a small smile played on his lips as a slight blush rose to his cheeks. The twins were gobsmacked! They never knew he was such a good actor!

Sirius and Remus laughed. "You sure have got Lily's acting abilities, pup." Dumbledore shook his head in amusment. Oh, to be young, to be carefree.

"** ' Lovely evening!" shouted Uncle Vernon, waving at Mrs Number Seven opposite, who was glaring from behind her net curtains. 'Did you hear the car backfire just now? Gave Petunia and me quite a turn!' **

**He continued to grin in a horrible, manic way until all the curious neighbors had disappeared from their various windows, then the grin became a grimace of rage as he beckoned Harry back towards him. **

**"**Don't do it Harry! Save yourself!" The twins screamed, and succeeded in getting all the students to beg and plead book-Harry not to go back. Harry looked at them all, worried for their mental states.

"**Harry moved a few steps closer, taking care to just stop short of the point at which Uncle Vernon's outstretched hands could resume their strangling. **

**'What the devil do you mean by it, boy?' " **

"I knew they were stupid, but stupid enough to not know your name?" Hermione snorted. These Dursleys were really getting on her nerves. She hoped she would never meet them again or they'd be on the business end of her wand.

"**asked Uncle Vernon in a croaky voice that trembled with fury.**

**'What do I mean by what?' Harry said coldly. He kept looking left and right up the street, still hoping to see the person who had made the cracking noise. **

"You'd make an excellent auror. You don't get distracted, even after getting near strangled." Kingsley said in a smooth baritone. Kingsley Shacklebolt had remained mostly silent through the book but decided to voice his opinions whilst it was still relatively quiet. He watched as the boy looked at him with eager eyes.

"Really, you think so?" A few people looked at Harry, wondering why the sudden change. Kingsley nodded his head to the boy seriously (no pun intended.)

"It's not only him, you'd make a fine auror Potter." Moody answered. Harry's eyes glazed over and he was seemingly caught in a day dream. Ever since he was young and before he even knew about magic he had wanted to be a policeman. The thought of helping those who couldn't help themselves was his greatest ambition.

**" 'Making a racket like a starting pistol right outside our - ' **

**'I didn't make that noise,' said Harry firmly. **

"There's no point in trying to reason with them Harry, it seems that nothing gets past their thick skulls." Tonks claimed. Sirius nodded sagely and ruffled Harry's hair.

"At least you tried pup, a valiant effort," Sirius announced.

"**Aunt Petunia's thin, horsey face now appeared beside Uncle Vernon's wide, purple one. She looked livid. "**

"Ah, Harry. You have a way with words." Remus said whilst wiping a tear of amusment away from his eye. He had met Petunia once at Lily's and James' wedding and he could recall how she had a certain horse-like quality to her face. Sirius let out a short, bark of laughter.

**'Why were you lurking under our window?' **

**'Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our window, boy?'**

**'Listening to the news,' said Harry in a resigned voice. **

**His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.**

**'Listening to the news! **_**Again?'**_

"At least we know he's not deaf," Tonks acknowledged. Harry had often hoped Vernon was going death so he wouldn't be able to hear Hedwig. He loved his owl and he hated that his uncle continuously complained about her.

**'Well, it changes every day, you see,' said Harry. **

"Who knew are ickle scrawny git could be so quick witted?" George said.

"Indeed amazingly good looking twin of mine, who knew?" Answered Fred. Everyone was now grinning.

**" 'Don't you be clever with me, boy! " **

"Oh yes Harry, if you show even the slightest bit of intelligence he'll be so confused his head may burst," Hermione declared, her face sincere and no one doubted that she was telling the absolute truth.

" **I want to know what your really up to - and don't give me any more of this **_**listening to the news**_** tosh! You know perfectly well that **_**your**__**lot**_** -'**

**'Careful Vernon!' breathed Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon lowered his voice so that Harry could barely hear him, '- that **_**your lot**_** don't get on our news!' **

**'That's all you know,' said Harry. " **

"Ha, I'll bet every time they watch the news now they'll question if its a wizard causing it or not! Greatest accidental prank ever!" Sirius jumped up and pulled his unresisting godson into a hug. Harry thought that Sirius' hugs were nicer than Molly's. Mrs Weasley often squeezed him so tight he saw black spots appear but when Sirius hugged him it was just tight enough to now he cared and loose enough to not smother him. He felt truly wanted when he was in Sirius' arms.

"**The Dursleys goggled at him for a few seconds, then Aunt Petunia said, 'You're a nasty little liar. What are all those -' she, too, lowered her voice so that Harry had to lip-read the next word, "**

"Good skill to have that. You could be undercover and your partner needs to communicate with you but you can't make a noise." Moody's thoughts once again turned towards the boy and how successful he would be if he became an auror. He had no doubt that the boy could enter the corps but he was still unsure if Harry would want to fight after the war.

"** ' - **_**owls **_**doing if they're not bringing you news?' **

**'Aha!' Uncle Vernon in a triumphant whisper. 'Get out of that one, boy! As if we didn't know you get all your news from those pestilential birds!'**

**Harry hesitated for a moment. It cost him something to tell the truth this time, even though his aunt and uncle could not possibly know how bad he felt at admitting it. **

**'The owls ... aren't bringing me news,' he said tonelessly. "**

Immediately after Dumbledore had read that sentence, Harry was once again pulled into a tight hug. He could tell by the bushy hair that this time it was Hermione who was causing him breathing difficulties. He heard her sob apologies. He put his arms around her and quietly soothed her. He would never understand girls. After Hermione had pulled herself together and was re-seated, Dumbledore continued.

**"' I don't believe it,' said Aunt Petunia at once.**

**'No more do I,' said Uncle Vernon forcefully. **

**'We know you're up to something funny,' said Aunt Petunia.**

**'We're not stupid, you know,' said Uncle Vernon. "**

"That's news to me!" Hermione snarled. Harry chuckled. She looked at him confused as many others in the room did. It wasn't that funny.

**" 'Well, that's news to me,' said Harry, his temper rising, and before the Dursleys could call him back, he had wheeled about, crossed the front lawn, stepped over the low garden wall and was striding off up the street. " **

The room at large tittered as Hermione flushed a cherry red. George and Fred cooed and awed. "Oh, so alike. They were made for each other." Harry did not seem affected by it and was laughing with the others.

**"He was in trouble now and he knew it." **

"When are you not in trouble?" Ron asked. Harry tilted his head to the side and looked pensive.

"There was that time when ... oh, never mind. Or how about when ... er, maybe not. Hmm ... Trick Question?" Harry answered. Fred and George made a buzzer sound and applauded him.

"Well done for winning the Harryyyyy Pottterrrrrr Quiz." Ginny started. "You can have your choice of prizes. Treacle tart for pudding, learn one of the twins secrets or ... you can ask one of the order one question. What will you choose?" Harry looked deep in thought. This was an almost impossible choice. The order members looked at one another. Hopefully he wouldn't choose the third option. They would hate to tell him they weren't allowed to answer his questions.

Harry looked up, a grin on his face. Apparently he had come to a decision. "I would like ... the treacle tart!" He said treacle tart like it was a deity. Ginny smiled at him. He was so predictable.

"And our winner chooses the Treacle Tart!" Just after Ginny said this, a letter floated down in front of her. Picking it up she read the contents quickly before she beamed. Clearing her throat she started.

_Dear Harry, _

_Congratulations on winning your impromptu quiz show. As a treat I shall make sure you have treacle tart for when supper is provided. Also, after the chapter, you are allowed to ask one question. Anything you want to know that's been bugging you. How generous am I. _

_Happy Reading, _

_Yours Sincerely, Serenity xxx _

Harry whooped in joy. Hermione looked thrilled at the chance of a question. She was already trying to word a question to get as many answers as possible.

Dumbledore smiled at them lightly and read on.

**"He would have to face his aunt and uncle later and pay the price for his rudeness, but he did not care very much just at the moment; he had much more pressing matters on his mind."**

The majority of the room growled and mumbled under their breathes insults about the Dursleys. Dumbledore, now wanting to finish the chapter quickly so he could answer a question which had indeed been bugging him, read on.

"**Harry was sure the cracking noise had been made by someone Apparating or Disapparating. It was exactly the sound Dobby the house-elf made when he vanished into thin air. Was it possible that Dobby was here on Privet Drive?" **

"Sadly, he was not," Harry said solemnly. He was quite fond of the little house-elf who had proven to be extremely loyal to him over the years.

**"Could Dobby be following him right at this very moment? As this thought occurred he wheeled around and stared back down Privet Drive, but it appeared to be completely deserted and Harry was sure that Dobby did not know how to become invisible." **

"Unlike some messy haired people I know," Ron said, winking at Harry. Hermione and Harry just exchanged playful smiles. Everyone else was confused as they didn't know about Harry's invisibility cloak.

"**He walked on, hardly aware of the route he was taking, for he pounded these streets so often lately that his feet carried him to his favourite haunts automatically. Every few steps he glanced back over his shoulder." **

"If only I had your eye Mad-Eye, then I wouldn't need to." Harry sighed. Tonks rolled her eyes at Harry and in response Harry tickled her. Whenever she could stop laughing she tried to talk.

"Please! Stop - I'm - ticklish - eep - Help - me - you - dolts!" Tonks cried. After a while Harry took pity on her and stopped. Her hair was now spiky and turquoise. She was glaring at him with completely black eyes. Sirius shook with contained laughter and many of the Order members had to hide their smiles.

**"Someone magical had been near him as he lay among Aunt Petunia's dying begonias, he was sure of it. Why hadn't they spoken to him, why hadn't they made contact, why were they hiding now? "**

"We were under orders to watch and not communicate." Tonks confirmed Harry's suspicions. A few order members looked daggers at the young order member. She didn't care. Harry was her new best friend and she wouldn't hide anything from him!

**"And then, as his feeling of frustration peaked, his certainty leaked away. **

**Perhaps it hadn't been a magical sound after all. Perhaps he was so desperate for the tiniest sign of contact from the world to which he belonged that he was simply overreacting to perfectly ordinary noises. Could he be sure it hadn't been the sound of something breaking inside a neighbors' house. **

"You shouldn't doubt yourself. Follow your instincts - there usually right." Tonks reassured him. Harry smiled gratefully at her. She wasn't as stuffy as some of the other order members and he wasn't joking when he said she had good qualities of a best friend.

**"Harry felt a dull, sinking sensation in his stomach and before he knew it the feeling of hopelessness that had plagued him all summer rolled over him once again." **

Tonks put a consoling hand on his arm and Harry expressed his gratitude by leaning closer to her.

"**Tomorrow morning he would be woken by the alarm at five " **Nearly everyone winced at the early hour. **"o' clock so he could pay the owl that delivered the **_**Daily Prophet - **_**but was there any point continuing to take it? Harry merely glanced at the front page before throwing it aside these days; when the idiots who ran the paper finally realised that Voldemort " **Flinch **"was back it would be headline news, and that was the only kind Harry cared about." **

"You know, if you don't read all of it, how do you know whether there were any mysterious disappearances?" Tonks asked, confused.

Harry tried to find the words to explain. "I was just fed up. I didn't care about Puddlemore United winning against The Holyhead Harpies. Or that Lucius Malfoy gave another donation to Saint Mungos. I just wanted news which would say something about the war," he looked again at Tonks who nodded.

**"If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends Ron **(Ron whooped) **and Hermione **(after being nudged by Fred she reluctantly whooped)**, though any expectation he'd had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed. **(Both murmured apologies.)

_**We can't say much about you-know-what obviously ... We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray ... We're quite busy but I can't give you the details here ... There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you ... **_

**But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed to bothered with a precise date." **

"We should have given you some more of a warning, but we didn't want security breached and risk you getting hurt." Remus said softly. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Harry, who was in near isolation. He had no news and barely any communication with our world.

**" Hermione had scribbled **(I do not scribble!) _**I expect we'll see be seeing you quite soon **_**inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon? As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house. "**

"Wrong," The Weasleys children and Hermione sang out. Harry just crossed his arms in a huff.

"Well, I didn't exactly have much information to help me draw conclusions, did I?" Everyone looked guilty. They could have found a safer way to send messages but they were so busy with house cleaning it just didn't seem possible.

**"He could barely think of the pair of them having fun at The Burrow **(The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione smiled. They all loved that house.) **when he was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he was so angry with them that he had thrown away, unopened, the two boxes of Honeydukes chocolates they'd sent him for his birthday. " **

Harry looked really guilty. "I'm sorry guys, I just felt that you had abandoned me." Hermione just smiled at him and Ron gave him a lopsided grin.

"It's alright, mate. We understand. Although, if it was me, I would have still ate it. Even if Draco Malfoy sent it." Ron's eyes got a glazed look thinking about chocolate. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You'd probably be poisoned then. You always think with your stomach."

"Hey! I'm a growing boy, food is important!" Ron defended himself. Before an argument could start between the two, Harry motioned to Dumbledore that he should carry on, quickly.

**"He'd regretted it later, after the wilted salad Aunt Petunia had provided for dinner that night. **

**And what were Ron and Hermione busy with? Why wasn't he, Harry, Busy? "**

"Why did you want to be busy? I'd rather be relaxing." said Tonks. Harry leaned back in his chair and looked into space.

"Being busy keeps my mind of things that happened. I felt they were doing something useful and I was sat with the Dursleys. It just angered me." Harry shrugged, unable to put into words his conflicting emotions.

**" Hadn't Harry proved himself capable of handling much more than them? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been **_**he**_** who had entered the graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered, and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed? "**

"No one forgot that Harry, and you have more than proved yourself. It's just that we needed you safe and to enjoy your childhood a bit more, before the war properly escalates," Dumbledore soothed Harry. Harry wanted to argue, to scream that he never had a childhood; that it was forcibly taken from him when his parents were murdered. But he kept silent.

"Just read the book," Harry mumbled. With a sigh, Dumbledore started again.

**" **_**Don't think about that**_**, Harry told himself sternly for the hundredth time that summer. It was bad enough that he kept revisiting the graveyard in his nightmares, without dwelling on it in his waking moments too. **

**He turned a corner into Magnolia Crescent; halfway along he passed the narrow alleyway down the side of a garage where he had first clapped eyes on his godfather. Sirius, at least, seemed to understand how Harry was feeling. Admittedly, his letters were just as empty of proper news as Ron and Hermione's, but at least they contained words of caution and consolation instead of tantalising hints: **_**I know this must be frustrating for you ... Keep your nose clean and everything will be OK ... Be careful and don't do anything rash ... " **_

"Does anyone else notice the irony of Sirius saying that sentence?" Remus asked. All the Order members chuckled and a few of the students joined in. However, Harry seemed to be lost in thought as he was frowning.

**"Well, thought Harry, as he crossed Magnolia Crescent, turned into Magnolia Road and headed towards the darkening play park, he had (by and large) done as Sirius advised. He had at least resisted the temptation to tie his trunk to his broomstick and set off for The Burrow by himself. In fact, Harry thought his behaviour had been very good considering how frustrated and angry he felt at being stuck in Privet Drive so long, reduced to hiding in flower beds in hope of hearing something that might point to what Lord Voldemort **(Flinch.) **was doing. Nevertheless, it was quite galling to be told not to be rash by a man who had served twelve years in the wizard prison, Azkaban, escaped, attempted to commit the murder he had been convicted for in the first place, then gone on the run with a stolen Hippogriff. "**

"Well, when you put it that way ..." Sirius smirked. He had felt rather foolish righting the words of advise when he knew he wouldn't have followed them.

"Your achievements up to now are indeed quite reckless," Dumbledore commented. He had sometimes wondered how much easier life would be if Sirius never went after Peter in the first place. Then Harry would never have gone to the Dursleys, he would have grown up knowing our ways and maybe he wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble if he had a suitable guardian guiding him.

**"Harry vaulted over the locked park gate and set off across the parched grass. The park was empty as the surrounding streets. When he reached the swings he sank on to the only one that Dudley and his friends had not yet managed to break, coiled one arm around the chain and stared moodily at the ground."**

"Ahhh, stare number 13," George said, looking at his twin for confirmation.

"Indeed. One of his more blunt stares." Fred replied. Laughter followed his statement. But what no one else knew was that they had indeed counted and numbered every single one of Harry's stares. They started when they wanted to know if he was in a good mood, so that if they pranked him, he wouldn't kill them. Or worse - get revenge. Currently, he had 35 stares.

**"He would not be able to hide in the Dursley's flower bed again. Tomorrow, he would have to think of some fresh way of listening to the news. In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feelings he had when he was awake. "**

No one from the Order admitted that this was where they were guarding the 'weapon', they believed that Harry didn't need to know to much or he might worry. However, Tonks decided if she got Harry alone she would tell him. It was only fair. After all, he was right. He had proved himself capable. Whilst she was planning ways to get Harry alone, the Headmaster continued.

**"Often the old scar on his forehead prickled uncomfortably, but he did not fool himself that Ron or Hermione or Sirius would find that very interesting any more. " **

Sirius protested loudly, "Harry James Potter, don't you dare not tell me when your hurt. I don't care whether you think its fine or not, you tell me right away if your scar hurts, do you understand me!" Sirius bellowed. Harry flinched slightly at the volume, but Sirius must have thought it was fear as he wrapped Harry in a hug. He was comforting Harry with random apologies and Harry decided to ignore them. There was no need to be sorry. But he wouldn't tell that to Sirius because he might use that as an excuse not to hug him.

**"In the past, his scar hurting had warned that Voldemort **(Flinch.) **was getting stronger again, but now that Voldemort **(Flinch.) **was back they would probably remind him that its regular irritation was only to be expected ... nothing to worry about ... old news. " **

Hermione was feeling extremely guilty that she did not give the impression that she cared about him, but she was going to fix that mistake. "Harry, like Sirius said, you can talk to me," and after a sly dig from Ron, "and Ron if your scar ever hurts, even if it is happening often." The only sign that he had heard her was the hand he raised as he was still in the depths of Sirius' bear hug.

**"The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he wanted to yell with fury. If it hadn't been for him, nobody would even know that Voldemort was back! And his reward was to be stuck in Little Whinging for four solid weeks, completely cut of from the magical world, reduced to squatting among dying begonias so that he could hear about water-skiing budgerigars! How could Dumbledore have forgotten him so easily? Why had Ron and Hermione got together without inviting him along, too? How much longer was he supposed to endure Sirius telling him to sit tight and be a good boy; or resist the temptation to write to the stupid **_**Daily Prophet **_**and point out that Voldemort had returned? **

"I would have paid to see that letter. Dear Editors, I am writing to inform you that the evil Dark Lord Voldemort has returned using a very dark ritual. I would appreciate if you could write an article about it to inform the Wizarding world of the danger we're now in. Your sincerely, Harry Potter. P.S. No, I am not insane or attention seeking. P.P.S . I can't honestly vouch for Dumbledore's sanity. " Sirius, releasing Harry from his hug, imitating Harry's voice and acted writing out a letter. When he got to the end, Molly gasped, outraged.

"You should learn some respect Sirius! Look at the example your setting for the children!"

"I am teaching them to relax and enjoy life. Not be completely sensible and boring."

"There is a time for jokes and now is not it!"

Moody poked Dumbledore, who was watching the argument with amusment. He cleared his throat to get the two shouting attention's.

**"These furious thoughts whirled around in Harry's head, and his insides writhed with anger **("You might want to get that checked out, mate" said Ron) **as a sultry, velvety night fell around him, the air full of the smell of warm, dry grass, and the only sound was that of the low grumble of traffic on the road beyond the park railings. **

**He did not know how long he sat on the swing before the sound of voices interrupted his musings and he looked up. The streetlamps from the surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong enough to silhouette a group of people making their way across the park. **

People exchanged worried glances, did anything else happen other than the Dementors that night? Surely these people would cause Harry no harm, after all, Surrey is considered one of the safest neighborhoods to live in.

**"One of them was singing a loud, crude song. " **

"Don't suppose you can remember the lyrics, Harry?" George asked hopefully.

"George Gideon Weasley!" Molly shouted.

"I'm Fred mum, pfft, and you call yourself our mother," George replied, smiling cheekily at his mum.

Molly just glared at him, offering no apology for getting his name 'wrong'. She had a distinct feeling they were lying to her.

**" The others were laughing. A soft ticking noise came from several expensive racing bikes that they were wheeling along.**

**Harry knew who these people were. The figure in front was unmistakably his cousin, Dudley Dursley, wending his way home, accompanied by his faithful gang. **

**Dudley was as vast as ever, but a year's of hard dieting and the discovery of a new talent had wrought quite a change in his physique. As Uncle Vernon delightedly told anyone who would listen, Dudley had recently become the Junior Heavyweight Inter-School Boxing Champion of the Southeast. **

"What's boxing?" The twins and Sirius asked.

"It's a sport where you have to knock out the other person." Harry explained simply.

"It's completely barbaric if you ask me, only an idiot would be proud of being a boxer," (a.n: If you are a boxer, do not be offended. This is just Hermione's view).

A few of the purebloods looked confused as to why someone would call knocking people out a sport. However, they didn't voice their opinions.

**" 'The noble sport', as Uncle Vernon called it, had made Dudley even more formidable than he had seemed to Harry in their primary school days when had served as Dudley's first punchball."**

"Harry, please tell me a punchball is some type of kid slang?" Sirius asked hopefully. Hermione shook her head. Her fists were clenched at her sides.

"Oh! I just hate that big bully. He should learn to pick on people his own size!" She couldn't stop ranting her thoughts aloud. She absolutely loathed bullies. When she was younger she never fitted in at school and was usually the object of the bullies attention. It brought back bad memories. Dumbledore's soothing voice started once again, calming everyone enough to listen to the story.

**"Harry was not remotely afraid of his cousin anymore but he still didn't think that Dudley learning to punch harder and more accurately was cause for celebration. " **

"Can't say I disagree with you, mate." Charlie said. He, like quite a few order members, were staying quiet and listening to all the facts. Some did not want to get involved whilst others were just biding their time and collecting as much information as possible.

**"Neighbourhood children all around were terrified of him - even more terrified than they were of that 'Potter boy' who, they had been warned, was a hardened hooligan and attended St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys." **

A tense silence followed after the Headmaster spoke this line. And then, like a bomb exploding, the room was plunged into a cacophony of noise. Mrs Weasley and Sirius were heard over the roar, shouting insults at the Dursleys and protesting, to who, Harry did not know, that Harry was one of the sweetest boys he knew.

They heard a loud bang, which sounded like a cannon going of, and all turned to look at Harry. He had no idea how he made that sound but he was hoping he needn't do it again. One moment he wished for the noise to stop and then a deafening blast went of. Harry suspected accidental magic although, he did feel quite childish because he could still not control his magic properly. When he had everyone's attention he spoke.

"I am wanting to finish this chapter so I may eat my treacle tart. The longer you take, the longer I go without my treacle tart," Harry's face was serious (again, no pun intended) and he had his arms folded, a clear sign of impatience.

Fred and George shrieked in fake, high pitched voices. "Oh my, Harry Potter without his treacle tart! No wonder he's a hooligan and an incurable criminal,"

Ginny joined in, "Save me from the Potter boy! Help me!" She jumped into Bill's arms (much to his amusment) and hid her face in his chest. After everyone had calmed down and seated the reading continued.

**"Harry watched the dark figures crossing the grass and wondered who they had been beating up tonight. **_**Look round, **_**Harry found himself thinking as he watched them. **_**Come on ... look around ... I'm sitting here all alone ... come and have a go ... "**_

"You shouldn't be looking for fights Harry. Violence is not the answer," Mrs Weasley said.

"Also, I think I should remind you that your outnumbered. Never go against an enemy if your outnumbered," Remus continued. Harry just sighed, it was useless trying to tell them that this was in the past.

**"If Dudley's friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn't want to lose face in front of the gang, but he'd be terrified of provoking Harry ... it would be really fun to watch Dudley's dilemma, to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond ... and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, he was ready - he had his wand. Let them try ... he'd love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who once made his life hell. " **

The whole table was looking at Harry in an entirely new light. Molly was frowning and said softly "No Harry," but at exactly the same time all the students (and Tonks) shouted "Go Harry," drowning her out. Harry looked at everyone, a sad smile playing on his lips.

"Unfortunately, I never did fight them," that was true enough, Harry thought. He did get into a tiff with Dudley but it wasn't with the group as a whole. Dumbledore was looking at him oddly, like he was trying to search his soul and see his intentions. It made him shift in his seat nervously and look down at the table.

**" But they didn't turn around, they didn't see him, they were almost at the railings. Harry mastered the impulse to call after them ... seeking a fight was not a smart move ... he must not use magic ... he would be risking expulsion again. " **

"That was a smart move Harry, I'm proud," Sirius said, smiling at his godson. A few people nodded in agreement with Sirius. However, there were a fair few groans of disappointment. Even some of the adults would admit they wouldn't mind placing various hexes and jinxes on the twerps.

**"The voices of Dudley's gang died away; they were out of sight, heading along Magnolia Road.**

_**There you go, Sirius, **_**Harry thought dully. **_**Nothing rash. Kept my nose clean. Exactly the opposite of what you'd have done. "**_

Harry looked at Sirius, nervously, fearful he had hurt Sirius' feelings with his thoughts. He was relieved when he heard the distinctive bark-like laugh.

"I'll be the first to admit it, Harry," Sirius said, beaming. A few more chuckles echoed around the room until Dumbledore resumed his story-telling.

**"He got to his feet and stretched. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed to feel that whenever Dudley turned up was the right time to be home, and any other time after that was much too late. **

"That's terrible parenting, no rules or any type of curfew," Mrs Weasley was talking to her husband but was overheard by everyone.

"Not everyone can be as good of a parent like you, Mrs Weasley," Harry said, smiling shyly at one of his only mother figures. He was pleased when she blushed and stammered a thank you after all her children had quickly agreed.

**"Uncle Vernon had threatened to lock Harry in the shed if he came home after Dudley ever again, so, stifling a yawn, and still scowling, Harry set of towards the park gate. " **

"What does he mean again! You haven't been locked in there, have you?" Hermione said quietly. Although she was not loud, her anger was easily noticed. Her eyes were burning with a dangerous fire and her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were as white as chalk.

Harry did not want to answer that question but he knew he must say something to ease his friends worry. "It was only once when I was little," Harry thought on his feet, not wanting to admit he was put in there when a cleaning agent had spilt in his cupboard and contained chemicals which could kill him. It surprised him that the Dursley's did not want him dead, but then he remembered that there were worse things than death. "I used to play in it and I fell asleep, when I woke up it was dead late and since then, Uncle Vernon thought it would be a good threat," Under the table Harry crossed his fingers. He hated lying to his best friend but he couldn't deal with anymore pitying stares, or, come to think of it, any more Weasley hugs.

**"Magnolia Road, like Privet Drive, was full of large, square houses with perfectly manicured lawns, all owned by large, square owners who drove very clean cars similar to Uncle Vernon's. Harry preferred Little Whinging at night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colour in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his 'delinquent' appearance when he passed the householders. He walked quickly, so that half way along Magnolia Road Dudley's gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited. "**

"Good, stay out of their way." Molly complimented him. Harry felt abashed knowing that he egged on Dudley to fight with him. Hopefully she wouldn't be too mad.

**" '... squealed like a pig, didn't he?' Malcom was saying, to guffaws from the others. **

**'Nice right hook, Big D,' said Piers. " **

A lot of people, children and adult alike, were appalled by the behavior of the gang, but no one commented on it, wanting the chapter to end quickly.

**" ' Same time tomorrow?' said Dudley.**

**'Round at my place, my parents will be out,' said Gordon.**

**'See you then,' said Dudley.**

**'Bye, Dud!' **

**'See ya, Big D!' **

**Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting of again. When their voices had faded once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly.**

"Please, oh please, don't start anything," Hermione chanted, her fingers crossed. A few other people joined in her mantra. Harry just rolled his eyes at them.

**" 'Hey, Big D!' **

**Dudley turned.**

**'Oh,' he grunted. 'It's you,' **

**'How long have you been "Big D" then?' said Harry.**

**'Shut it,' snarled Dudley, turning away. **

**"**That's not very nice is it, he was onlyasking a question," Mr Weasley exclaimed.

**"Cool name,' said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside his cousin. 'But you'll always be "Ickle Diddykins" to me.' **

A moment of stunned speechlessness permitted the air and then suddenly, "Ickle Duddykins!" screamed Ginny, her tone laced with laughter. Following their sisters lead they fell into fits of laughter. Sirius was snickering to himself and everyone around the room found humor in his ridiculous nickname. Harry laughed heartily with the others. He remembered first hearing some of the nicknames and wishing he could freely laugh. Now he could, he was going to let it all out.

After a good five minutes of guffawing, a calm settled over the room. When there was only a few random snorts and snickers of amusment, Dumbledore carried on.

**" 'I said, SHUT IT"' said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists. **

**'Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?' **

**'Shut your face,' **

**'You don't tell her to shut her face. What about "Popkin" and "Dinky Diddyums" can I use them?' **

This was too much for the people listening and they cracked, epic bursts of laughter escaping from there lips. Giggles, snorts, snickers, chortles, cackling, bellowing and many other types of laughter danced through the room, filling it to the brim with a happy and lively atmosphere. Even Dumbledore could not manage to contain his merriment any longer. Wiping tears of joy from their eyes, they settled, ready to resume the book.

**" Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to demand all his self control." **

"Harry, you really shouldn't bait him," Remus confided. Harry shrugged. What was he meant to say? He couldn't say sorry without lying and Harry tried to avoid lying as much as possible.

**" 'So who've you been beating up tonight?' Harry asked, his grin fading. 'Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago -'**

"Any relation?" Hermione asked. Harry looked up at her, confusion clouding his face. "Well, he shares your mothers name before she married your father.' Harry had never even noticed the connection. Now that he thought of it, he did have his mothers red hair, from what he had seen in pictures. Perhaps they were related. Harry hoped he was. He would like to have some relations who didn't hate him.

**" 'He was asking for it,' snarled Dudley.**

**'Oh yeah?' **

**'He cheeked me.' **

**'Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on it hind legs? 'Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true.' " **

George and Fred chuckled merrily. "Why aren't you this funny in school?" George asked. He could almost imagine Harry helping them with pranks. They would be legendary, known by every student to ever walk Hogwart's floor.

Harry didn't answer straight away. "I guess there is never an opportunity to be. I usually don't make it a habit to insult people," Harry replied, looking warily at the dreamy look in the twins eyes. One twin turned to the other and secretly they decided - they needed Harry Potter, for the good of all pranks!

**" A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had. " **

"You really need a hobby, Harry," George said, looking at Harry innocently.

Harry was scared.

"Yes, and we believe we have a perfect solution!" Fred continued after George, his grin becoming wider with every word he spoke.

"How would you like to become a prankster?" The finished in unison.

"It's a noble past time for young hero's,"

"such as yourself,"

"to relax and enjoy themselves in times of stress."

"So what do you say, fancy becoming our partner in crime?"

"Our accomplice?"

"Our co-conspirator?"

Harry felt a head ache form. He never realised how annoying twin talk could become. His neck was aching from all the back and forth motions it had been put through. Harry was actually considering their offer. After all, pranking was in his blood. His father, dog-father and honorary god-wolf had all been pranksters. They were infamous for it. Harry looked at the twins and nodded is head. "Sounds like fun."

The reply to his answer differed, Sirius was cheering with the twins. Remus was grinning but secretly hoping Harry would focus some more on his studies than the two red heads. Hermione looked worried but agreed with the twins that Harry did need a hobby. However, she thought more along the lines of chess or crafts. Ron looked slightly jealous until he realised Harry would share all his pranking knowledge with him and let him help. After all, what were friends for. Tonks looked absolutely gleeful. She was currently talking to the twins, trading some of her own ideas in exchange for WWW merchandise.

Unfortunately, Mrs Weasley did not approve. And when Mrs Weasley does not approve, she shrieks. "HOW DARE YOU INFLUENCE POOR HARRY INTO HELPING YOU WITH YOUR HAIR BRAINED SCHEMES! HE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON HIS OWLS, NOT RUNNING AROUND CAUSING CHAOS!" After her improvised rant, she blushed a shocking shade of red as she now had everyone's full attention. Harry looked at her, his big, green eyes filling with tears.

"Please Mrs Weasley, don't shout at them. I just wanted to have some fun before the war got dead bad. I don't even know if I'll survive this war and I want to spend the rest of my possibly short life happy." Harry added in a sniff to make it realistic.

He shoots and ...

"Oh Harry darling, it's not that I disapprove. It's just that I'm worried you'll not focus on your OWLs ... and whats all this nonsense about not surviving. You will stay alive, you hear me Harry James We - Potter." Mrs Weasley went over to him and hugged him lightly, not crushing a single rib.

... he scores!

The twins were looking at him with adoration, Ron was staring at him in awe. Remus and Sirius tried to not look too proud. Before any more arguments or laughter could ensue, Dumbledore continued.

**"They turned right down the narrow alleyway where Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a shortcut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no streetlamps. Their footsteps were muffled between the garage wall on one side and a high fence on the other. **

**'Think your a big man carrying that thing, don't you?' Dudley said after a few seconds.**

**'What thing?'**

**'That - that thing you are hiding,' **

**Harry grinned again.**

**'Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s'pose, if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time,' **

**Harry pulled out his wand. He was Dudley look sideways at it.**

**'You're not allowed,' Dudley said at once. 'I know you're not. You'll get expelled from that freak school you got to.' **

"If I ever see the young Mr Dursley, I may have to remind him that Hogwarts is not a freak school, it is a magical and beautiful school and I have the pleasure of being Headmaster." Dumbledore said lightly, yet still, everyone heard him.

**" 'How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?'**

**'They haven't,' said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced.**

**Harry laughed softly. **

"Do you know how creepy you are when you laugh like that?" Ron said looking at the leader of the Golden Trio. Ron remembered when they had a incident with Draco Malfoy. If he remembered correctly, Malfoy nearly wet himself.

Harry shook his head. He meant for it to sound intimidating but he didn't think he effectively creeped anyone out. Hmm, he thought, I guess you learn something new everyday.

**" 'You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?' Dudley snarled**

**'Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten-year-old. You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?'**

**'He was sixteen, for your information,' snarled Dudley, 'and he was out cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you. You just wait till I tell dad you had that thing out -' "**

"The idiot, he can't even say the word wand. No offences to you Harry but even if his opponent was five times heavier than Harry, he would still be lighter than you Dinky Diddyums," Sirius growled. Although the atmosphere was tense, a few people laughed at Sirius' joke.

**" 'Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry's wand?' " **

Snorts echoed around the kitchen.

**" 'Not this brave at night, are you?' sneered Dudley. **

**'This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this' " **

Sirius narrowed his eyes, what was the fat twerp playing at?

**" 'I mean when your in bed!' Dudley snarled. "**

A few of the quicker people in the room caught on to what the pig was saying and there eyes opened wide. He wouldn't would he?

**" He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin. From the little light he could see of Dudleys large face, he could see he was wearing a strangely triumphant look.**

**'What d'you mean. I'm not brave when I'm in bed?' said Harry completely nonplussed. 'What am I supposed to be afraid of, pillows or something?'**

"Oh no! Look out for the man-eating pillows!" George shrieked.

"They form my boggart you know, terribly frightening," Ginny said.

**'I heard you last night,' said Dudley breathlessly. 'Talking in your sleep. **_**Moaning.'**_

All around him, Harry could hear sharp intakes of breath. He had not lifted his gaze from the wooden table in front of him. He did not even feel Tonks hand, once again, resting on his arm.

**'What d'you mean?' Harry said again, but there was a cold plunging sensation in his stomach. He had revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams. **

**Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter, then adopted a high-pitched whimpering voice. **

**'"Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!" Who's Cedric - your boyfriend?' " **

Bellows and shouts of outrage followed Dudley's sentence. However, Harry wasn't listening. Dudley had no right to make fun of Cedric. He didn't understand a thing! He felt righteous anger flood through his body and the table started to shake slightly. He was numbly aware of Tonks holding on tighter to his arm. He felt fingers tilt his head up until he was looking into a pair of violet eyes. "Harry, you need to calm down," Tonks whispered to him. He felt her hand run through his hair soothingly and felt her fingertips dance across his cheek until it rested on his shoulder. Harry just sighed, letting out a breath. Tonks hugged him quickly and then returned to her seat, although he noticed that her hand was now in his, offering him support. The shaking stopped.

He observed the table, many were livid with Dudley, muttering about "respecting the dead" and "foul pig-like monster who had no idea". Harry soon tuned them out as he heard Dumbledore start.

**" 'I - your lying,' said Harry automatically. But his mouth had gone dry. He knew Dudley wasn't lying - how else would he know about Cedric?**

**"'Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me! Boo Hoo!"'**

**'Shut up!' Harry said quietly. 'Shut up Dudley, I'm warning you!' **

The students all shuddered imagining Harry's fury. When he warns someone, they really should take his advise. Harry could be down right scary when angered.

**" "'Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me **(an: I really hate writing this bit because I could never imagine Harry sounding so weak and defenceless -.-) **He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to - " Don't you point that thing at me!' **

There was a few noticeable sighs of relief that it was over. They hated seeing Harry embarrassed. They felt a little bad because they were invading his privacy. In this book, it was going to reveal his thoughts and feelings. It wasn't really fair. And here Harry was, barely complaining.

**" Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart. Harry could feel fourteen years' hatred of Dudley pounding in his veins - what wouldn't he give to strike now, to jinx Dudley so thoroughly he'd have to crawl home like an insect, struck dumb, sprouting feelers ... **

**'Don't ever talk about that again,' snarled Harry. 'D'you understand me?' **

**'Point that thing somewhere else!" **

**'I said, **_**do you understand me?'**_

_**'Point it somewhere else!'**_

**'DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?**

**'GET THAT THING AWAY FROM -' **

**Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water.**

**Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch black and lightless - the stars, the moon, the misty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished. **

"The dementors," someone whispered. It was easily heard as everyone was silent, the tension mounting to unimaginable heights.

**"The distant rumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy evening was suddenly, piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them. **

**For a split second Harry thought he had done magic without meaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as he could - "**

"Why would you think it was you Harry, my boy?" Dumbledore asked. Harry shifted anxiously. He looked into his eyes and spoke slowly and quietly.

"It's not the first time I've let my magic get away from me. Weirder things have happened." He did not explain further so Dumbledore carried on.

**" - then his reason caught up with his senses - he didn't have the power to turn of the stars. He turned his head this way and that, trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil. **

**Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear.**

**'W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!' **

**'I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!' **

**'I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I -' **

"Why won't the freakin' idiot shut the hell up!" Hermione hissed, fearing for her best friends safety. She seemed to have overlooked that he was in fact fine and that he survived the encounter.

**" 'I said shut up!'**

**Harry stood stock-still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense he was shivering all over, goose bumps had erupted up his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up - he opened his eyes to the fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing. **

**It was impossible ... they couldn't be here ... not in Little Whinging ... he strained his ears ... he would hear them before he saw them ... "**

"Good Potter, if you can't use one sense, use the others," Moody praised the boy, who was currently holding onto Tonks' hand tightly, but not firm enough to hurt.

**" 'I'll t-tell Dad!' Dudley whimpered. 'W-where are you? What are you d-do -?'**

**'Will you shut up?' Harry hissed, 'I'm trying to lis-' **

**But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading.**

**There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. Harry felt a horrible jolt of dread as he stood trembling in the freezing air. " **

The room was all holding there breath, anxiously sitting on the edge of there seats.

**" 'C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!' **

**'Dudley, shut -'**

**WHAM "**

"THE IDIOT! HE HIT YOU!" Sirius roared. Even though he knew his godson was fine it did not help his nerves. If anything ever happened to Harry he wouldn't know what to do.

Mrs Weasley was muttering under her breathe, holding on to Mr Weasley's arm for dear life. Fred and George looked, for once, serious and also looked scared. Ron was worried but he reassured himself that Harry could handle dementors, he had done it before. Hermione's heart was beating so fast, she was sure it was going to pound out of her rib cage. Dumbledore appeared troubled. However, his voice was smooth as he continued reading.

**"A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting him of his feet. Small white lights popped in front of his eyes. For the second time in an hour Harry felt as though his head had been cleaved in two; next moment, he had landed hard on the ground and his wand had flown out of his hand." **

"NO!" The table shouted. Tonks was clutching Harry's hand tightly, concerned about the boy. How did he get out of this one without a wand?

**" 'You moron Dudley!' Harry yelled, his eyes watering with pain as he scrambled to his hands and knees, feeling frantically in the blackness. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling. **

**" 'DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!' **

**There was a horrible squealing yell and Dudley's footsteps stopped. At the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could only mean one thing. There was more than one. **

**'DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!' Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. 'Where's - wand - come on -**_** lumos**_**!' **

Dumbledore raised his eyebrow at Harry, he was a lot stronger than he had thought. If this worked, Dumbledore thought, I'll try and teach him wandless magic. Not straight away of course, maybe later, between less - intense - chapters.

"That's not going to work mate," said Charlie. Harry looked at him bemused.

**" He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him in his search - and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand - the wand-tip had ignited. "**

Everyone was staring at Harry in shock. Once again, a blush stained Harry's cheek. Dumbledore smiled comfortingly at Harry. The poor boy was so modest and shy. Tonks cheered, "You've found your wand! Yeah!" Harry grinned at her enthusiasm, it was honestly quite entertaining. A collective sigh of relief whooshed into the room. He was armed again.

**"Harry snatched it up, scrambled to his feet and turned around. **

**His stomach turned over. **

**A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly towards him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came. Stumbling backwards, Harry raised his wand. **

**'**_**Expecto Patronum!' **_

**A silvery wisp of vapour shot from the tip of his wand and the Dementor slowed, but the spell had not worked properly; " **

"Remember Harry, happy memories." Remus said. He had been truly surprised when Harry had been able to accomplish the spell, most grown wizards could not.

**"tripping over his own feet, Harry retreated further as the Dementor bore down on him, panic fogging his brain - **_**concentrate -**_

**A pair of grey, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the Dementor's robes, reaching for him. A rushing noise filled Harry's ears. **

**'**_**Expecto Patronum!' **_

**His voice sounded dim and distant. Another wisp a silver smoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the wand - he couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't work the spell. **

"Come on Harry .. er ... Book-Harry! You can do it!" The twins yelled. They had complete faith in Harry's skill.

**" There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high-pitched laughter ... he could smell the Dementor's putrid, death-cold breath filling his own lung's, drowning him -**_** think -**__**something happy ...**_

**But there was no happiness in him ... the Dementor's icy fingers were closing on his throat - the high-pitched laughter was growing louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head: '**_**Bow to death, Harry ... it might even be painless ... I would not know ... I have never died ...'**_ **"**

"I thought you heard ... your parents ... voices," Hermione asked, confused. Harry looked at her sadly.

"I did but after the graveyard, I suppose it's not my worst memory anymore." Harry spoke quietly. He truly hated that night, not only had Cedric died but with Voldemort rising, it promised many more deaths would follow. Hermione felt terrible, only something truly horrifying could be worse than watching your parents be killed.

**" He was never going to see Ron and Hermione again - **

**And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he fought for breath. **

**'**_**EXPECTO PATRONUM!' **_

"You thought of us?" Hermione asked, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes. At Harry's nod she dove across the table and hugged him, crying into his robes. Harry hoped that this chapter was over soon, he couldn't bare seeing his best friend upset. He looked at Ron and saw that Ron too looked on the verge of tears. Thankfully, he held them in. He gave Harry a nod which conveyed the message, 'I'd do the same.'

**"An enormous silver stag "**

"Prongs!" The Golden Trio and the last of the remaining Marauders sang out. The twin's were shocked. Why would they name his patronus after one of the most famous pranksters to ever walk the earth?

**"erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; its antlers caught the Dementor in the place where the heart should of been; it was thrown backwards, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the Dementor swooped away, bat-like **(Ron coughed "Snape" which was followed by a round of sniggers.) **and defeated. **

**'THIS WAY!' Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft. 'DUDLEY? DUDLEY!' **

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but how is it possible that Harry could perform the Patronus but still keep the lumos charm in effect?" Hermione questioned. Dumbledore pondered over this question.

"I believe that Harry disabled the charm momentarily whilst the Patronus formed and then, without knowing, silently casted the lumos yet again, in quick succession of one another." Dumbledore looked at the girl, who was analysing everything he said and storing it away to research later. She reminded him so much of Ariana, who was a true Ravenclaw if he ever did see one.

**"He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prising them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him. **

**'GET IT!' Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping past him. The Dementor's eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness; the stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist." **

The room cheered. Finally, the scary part was over.

**"Moon, stars and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in the neighbouring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again. Harry stood quite still, all his senses vibrating , taking in the abrupt return to normalicy. After a moment, he became aware that his T-shirt was sticking to him, he was drenched in sweat. " **

"Battling Dementors does that to you," Moody barked. Harry just nodded, it was indeed a workout.

**" He could not believe what had just happened. Dementors **_**here**_**, in Little Whinging. **

**Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking." **

"What do you think he saw?" Tonks inquired. Harry shrugged, but he had a pretty good idea. He wouldn't have been shocked if Dudley had relived every single one of his victims suffering by his hands.

**"Harry bent down to see whether he was in a fit state to stand up, but then he heard loud, running footsteps behind him. Instinctively raising his wand again, he spun on his heel to face the new comer. **

**Mrs Figg, their batty old neighbour, came panting into sight. Her grizzled grey hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking string shopping bag was swinging from her wrist and her feet were halfway out of her tartan slippers. Harry made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight, but - **

**'Don't put it away, idiot boy!' she shrieked. 'What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to **_**kill**_** Mundungus Fletcher!' **

As soon as Dumbledore uttered the last line in the chapter, Mundungus awoke, his eyes darting round, looking for danger. The students all laughed at the man but the Order was glaring at him in disapproval. After someone took pity on him and explained what was going on, Dumbledore cleared his throat, effectively getting everyone's attention.

"That is the end of the chapter and I was under the impression that young Harry gets to have his treacle tart and we get to ask one question." As Dumbledore expected a note fluttered, from who knows where, down. It landed in front of Harry. He took it slowly, still not sure it was safe. When nothing happened he read it out.

_Dear Harry and company, _

_You are allowed to ask one question which you deem suitable and in a one moment you can have your treacle tart. Just write your question on the back of this letter and I will answer it to the best of my ability. _

_Yours Sincerely, Serenity xxx_

Then there was a pop and desserts filled the table. Quickly, Harry had snatched slice of treacle tart onto his plate. Whilst everyone was arguing about what question to ask, Harry took a quill from his pocket (self-inking) and wrote in his chicken-scratch script.

_'What happened to Harry Potter?' _

* * *

And that is the first chapter! Like I said before, it took me forever to write this, and I hope your all happy with the quality. I'd really appreciate and criticism so I can improve. I know it seems like I'm making Harry over-powered but I have a good reason. It all links in with what happened after Sirius died. Don't worry, you'll find out soon. You may have noticed that even though I said it would be a Harry/Hermione pairing, I have put a lot of potential in for Harry/Tonks. What can I say, the chapter just wrote itself. I'd love it if you could give me your opinion for the pairing. Don't forget to review.

Another thing I should mention is on the document I use for writing, it doesn't come with spell check. So I went on the internet. Only halfway through checking I realised that it was an American spell check. Therefore, they may be a few words spelt the American way and a few English. Sorry for any confusion.

The next chapter is going to be a break from the book and we'll find out more about the future they're trying to change. So until then,

Tattie Byes xxx

Vickie1996.


	3. The Break

**Disclaimer - **

**Sarah: Erm, Vickie. You do know it's illegal to drink alcohol underage, right?**

**Vickie: Leave me be! I am drowning my sorrows!**

**Sarah: *blinks owlishly* Why?**

**Vickie: Why! Because I, The Great Vicki1996, do not own Harry Potter! The injustice of it! *bursts into tears.***

**Sarah: *edges away slightly* Yeah ... injustice. So ... are you gonna finish this disclaimer and get on with the fic? **

**Vickie: *sniff* All characters belong to that J.K. Rowling woman *sniff* and n-no-not me! *Cries***

**Sarah: Alright then ... Er, bye! *Runs of***

Hello again my dear readers. I am sorry for not writing this chapter sooner but something terrible happened! Something so horrendous it could only end in tragedy! My laptop crashed and deleted the chapter I was currently working on - cruel, right? However, after drowning my sorrows in warm milk (dangerous stuff that is kids - watch out) I attempted to write the chapter again.

I have so many different ways I could take this fic and now I'm a bit worried about bringing in Harry's future this early on. But it seemed like such a good thing to do! Oh bum, I'm rambling. Anyway, as I may have mentioned before, this fic has been writing itself. Which is good for me. I still feel as though I am god and the characters are people under my control ... mwa ha ha ha! I'm still unsure about who Harry shall end up with ... Go on to my profile and vote! The highest vote shall be the winner ... Anyways - Big thanks to all the people who have reviewed or added this to their story alert/ favourites. It means a lot :)

So without further ado - I can proudly present ... Drum roll please ... *drum roll* ... Chapter 2!

* * *

**Fancy Changing The Future? **

Then there was a pop and desserts filled the table. Quickly, Harry had snatched a slice of treacle tart onto his plate. Whilst everyone was arguing about what question to ask, Harry took a quill from his pocket (self-inking) and wrote in his chicken-scratch script.

_'What happened to Harry Potter?' _

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed in outrage, finally noticing the young boy scribbling rapidly onto the paper. Acting out of anger she dove across the table and rescued the piece of paper from Harry's offending quill. She desperately tried to read what he had wrote, but she was too late. The ink was being absorbed into the paper. A scream of frustration tore from Hermione's mouth and she glared at Harry. Ever since she was presented with the opportunity to ask a question, she had been attacked by an onslaught of thoughts and theories. All through the chapter she had been dividing and combining questions into categories of importance. But any chance of an answer was snatched from her by The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry watched Hermione quietly. He was annoyed that she didn't trust him. His question was a question that needed answering, Harry thought. After all, if he didn't know what happened then how could he prevent the rise of _King_ Voldemort. Harry's annoyance rose to new heights as Hermione began lecturing him. Non of the adults got involved. Harry mentally snorted, when did they ever get involved unless it was about his freedom? Harry observed the surrounding people, storing away their expressions and opinions for later. He realised that Hermione had not even asked him what he wrote. So much for her never-ending search for knowledge. Briefly, he noticed Hermione stop. He looked at her, hoping he hadn't missed a question. However, she was not looking at him. She was looking at Tonks.

Tonks hair was an angry red, tumbling down her back in a cascade of menacing curls. Her eyes were flashing a multitude of colours, conveying her displeasure. When she spoke her voice was icy and dangerous. "Who do you think you are?" Her question brought an array of amusing reactions. Hermione looked affronted and she crossed her arms tightly. Ron looked confused, no doubt answering the question in his mind, "She's Hermione, duh!" The twins looked overjoyed, mainly because Hermione was getting taken down a peg or two. She was a nice girl but she needed to understand that lecturing everyone and bossing them around is not fun. Most of the order members looked unsure whether they should subdue Tonks before she hurt the girl. Sirius, however, looked proud. Finally, someone was standing up for his godson!

"Excuse me!" Hermione spat, trying to perish the silence which had descended the room. Tonks' eyebrow rose in amusment.

"I'm afraid you can't be excused just yet. I asked you a question and it would be polite to answer it. Who do you think you are?" Hermione bristled at the clear patronising.

"I am Hermione Granger!"

Tonks applauded mockingly. "Thank you for stating the obvious. I meant, who are you to Harry? Who are you to be lecturing him?" Tonks demanded, her voice low and ferocious. How dare this bookworm reprimand Harry for being curious. She stated that he should of checked with her first. Why? He didn't need babysitting or smothering. He was capable of making his own decisions. Her anger was ignited and it was not about to be put out.

"I am his best friend!" Hermione shouted, fury chained to her words.

"Well you could of fooled me. A best friend is meant to be someone you can rely on, someone who does not question their every motive or desire. They're meant to understand and know everything about that person. From what I've seen, you don't give the impression of being a best friend." Tonks finished. She was no longer looking at Hermione, who had collapsed into a chair, tears running down her face. She was studying Harry. Her anger was extinguished by worry. How would Harry react? She gave a silent sigh of relief when he smiled gratefully at her. The death like silence was starting to unnerve her. Seeking a way to end it she asked, "So, what did you ask?"

Harry took a calming breath. "I asked what happened to Harry Potter." He had satisfied their curiosity and now he was waiting for the next chiding. However, no one spoke. They were speechless. How could this boy come up with a simple question which could explain so much. After all, they were stuck in this room because of his future self. The Order scolded themselves. They had acted child-like because they couldn't ask their question. At least some of their concerns would be sated by Harry's.

Tonks beamed at him. "Great! That question was bugging me too." The talk then settled into something more relaxed. The voices were quite cheerful but they were laced with anticipation. When would the next letter arrive to answer their questions? Currently Tonks and Harry were talking about Auror Training and what it would entail.

"Well, you've already got the instincts. Your also very brave. Not losing your head in a crisis is essential. You should work on controlling your emotions and maybe on your stealth. Have you thought of putting silencing charms on your shoes when you go back to Hogwarts. No one can hear ..." Tonks' voice faded as she watched a letter float effortlessly down to the table. She grabbed it quickly (tripping over her chair and falling on the table in the process) and handed the note to Harry. He just shook his head.

"You can read it if you like." Tonks squealed a thank you and unfolded the note. Her delighted smile turned to a frown. The rooms occupants held their breath.

Tonks noticed that the handwriting was different from Serenity's, more masculine. It was fairly messy but she could still read it. Clearing her throat she started. (an: bold underline is our mystery man and italics is still Serenity)

**You question cannot be answered at this moment. And don't start sniveling and sulking about how unfair it is. Life is unfair. Deal with it. **

_Dear Order and Students, _

_Sorry about him. He's just grouchy. I suppose he woke on the wrong side of the bed. It won't be the first time. However, as much as I'd like to answer the question Harry, I'm not allowed just yet. It is slightly unfair so I'll give you some information that you may appreciate. _

_Just as you are trapped in a room, my parents and I are confined in one too. The rooms are linked through time and space. Freaky right! The rune work and research was done by my father and it allowed us to listen and watch your progress as you read through the books. Well, I think I'm the only one listening because Mum and Papa are usually busy reading or researching some way to kill Voldemort. _

_Anyway, I am currently in control of the rooms. I can send you notes and you can send me notes, using the paper provided. I can give you food when you need it (I would say want it but knowing Ron, he may just eat every second of the day ;) ) I can change the room to make more rooms. I shall be doing this momentarily so you can have bedrooms and not sleep on the floor. Basically, I am God. Well, Goddess I suppose. But don't worry! I won't be corrupt and bend you to my every will and want! Aren't I nice. _

_I think I should also say, write, that I can also arrange the seating and sleeping arrangements, so try not to annoy me too much, you may up sharing a room with your enemy. I would really like to tell you more but Papa disallows it. Sorry. _

_So, I think I'll leave you to go to sleep. Oh! That reminds me, whilst your in the room Harry, you will have no nightmares. Pleasant dreams everyone and have a good rest. _

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Serenity. _

Everyone was silent. Then Molly Weasley burst. Not literally, though I suppose it would be amusing, if not slightly gory. No, the metaphorical dam which kept her from screaming collapsed, exploded, maybe imploded. That is not important right now. What is important is her rant. "Albus! Can't you do something! I refuse to be controlled by a child! I shall decide who sleeps in what room as I always do and then we can all settle down." What happened next was confusing. Perhaps Molly shouldn't have shouted her plans to take back control off Serenity. Or maybe Serenity was just feeling bored. Either way, by the time Molly stopped speaking there was a basket in the room. A dog basket. The only unusual thing about the basket was the name which was painted on the front of it. 'Molly'.

No one knew who started it, although the twins were prime suspects, but one by one everyone burst into peals of laughter. It was cruel but the basket wasn't the only thing what Serenity had done. No longer was Molly Weasley standing up, hands on hips and face red. No, Molly was on hands and feet, glaring up at everyone, tail wagging furiously. Molly Weasley had turned into a dog. She looked at Dumbledore and whined. Dumbledore had stopped chuckling and looked at Dog-Molly.

"I am afraid I cannot understand you Molly. Are you hurt?" Dumbledore's bushy, white eyebrows furrowed together in concern. Molly shook her head, making her ears flap. A few more titters escaped into the room. Sirius suddenly had an idea. For those who knew Sirius, they would understand that his ideas very usually succeed. So, without a single thought, Sirius had transformed into his animagus form. He barked happily and went up to Dog-Molly.

Both dogs looked at each other. Whilst Sirius was large and covered in untamable black fur, Dog-Molly was small and was cloaked in red fur. Dog-Molly growled at Sirius and Sirius let out a bark which reminded them of his laughter. A few more seconds passed and Sirius returned to being human.

"She asked for someone to change her back," Sirius answered the many questioning looks. Arthur sighed and got out his wand. However, when he went to cast a spell his wand started shaking uncontrollably and shattered into small pieces. Everyone stared wide eyed at the splinters of wood littering the floor. Thankfully, after a few nerve wrecking moments, the wand started mending itself. Once he pocketed his repaired wand, he turned to his wife.

"It seems we can't do magic Molly. I'm sure you'll change back soon." He ran a comforting hand over her fur. Startling everyone, Fred and George shouted, "Oi!"

Turning to the twins, Harry noticed they had pointed to the doors which had appeared out of no where. The doors had names carved into them in various fonts and styles. There was a big oak door with Dumbledore's name etched in Italic. Next to it was an average size door. It was painted fire engine red and had three names painted on it in gold. The name 'Padfoot' was written in a child's hand, reflecting Sirius' personality perfectly. The name 'Moony' underneath was written neatly in big, curly letters. However, the name 'Harry' at the bottom must of been painted by a true artist. The letters themselves were bold but the pattern which surrounded the name were beautiful. There were snitches and Lilies, vines of gold connecting them all. Below Harry's name was 4 animals. A wolf, with it's head reared back, howled at the moon silently. By its side was a grim-like dog. A rat was of to the side, squished underneath the hoof of a Stag. The proud animal stood tall and impressive. Other doors appeared with names on but Harry did not notice. His eyes were fixed on his door.

He was startled out of his reverie by a hand grasping his shoulder. "Want to check it out, pup?" His answer was only a slight nod of the head. Harry let himself be guided by Sirius' hand to the door. They paused outside. "Want to open it?" Sirius' voice was not mocking, it was light and comforting. In response he reached out for the door knob. Turning it he entered his room.

It was amazing, Harry thought. The room was larger than the fifth year dormitory and had three beds placed against the wall. They were separated by a bed side table. Opposite the beds was three large wardrobes. They were the same colour as the door and had gold stars scattered across them. Another door could be seen to the side which, Harry thought, must be the bathroom. However, what took Harry's breath away was the walls and ceiling. The walls were covered in photos. Some from his fathers time at Hogwarts and some from his. There was thousands of pictures. He would have to ask Sirius about them sometime. The ceiling was Harry's favourite. Although he wouldn't admit it, he adored astronomy. He loved just looking at the stars and feel his problems melt away.

He heard Sirius let out a low whistle. "Pretty nice huh?" Sirius then ran and jumped onto a bed. "Dibs this one!" Harry shook his head and smiled. Trust Sirius to act like a kid. Remus walked to the bed at the end, at a more sedate pace, leaving the bed in the middle unoccupied. Seating himself on his bed he looked at the bed. The duvet was midnight blue with silver stars and moons covering it, matching the pillow case. Slowly, he eased off his trainers and put them under his bed. When he was getting back up he noticed a note on the bed side table.

He motioned to Sirius and Remus. They sat up and waited for Harry to read the note.

"_ Dear Harry, Remus and Sirius,_

_I hope you like your room. It is meant to suit your personalities and tastes. I hope you don't mind but I followed Harry's taste because it's just so beautiful. I also thought that you might want to watch the full moon, Remus. Without turning into a man-eating werewolf that is. I hope you like the room. There are PJ's in the wardrobe and toiletries in the bathroom. If you want any hot chocolate or water just write on the note. I'll keep this short so you can get ready for bed. _

_Night night._

_Yours Sincerely,  
Serenity. "_

"Never knew you were the star loving type Harry. Your grades in astronomy are pretty poor." Remus joked, gingerly. Sirius and Harry snorted at this.

"Remus! Use your brain! If I admit I like astronomy then - god forbid - I wouldn't be so normal!" Harry stated. This was it for the trio. they fell onto there beds as they chuckled, unable to stop themselves.

A few hours passed and Harry was still awake. He was attacked by the seriousness of this 'group' reading. He didn't know how to feel about his privacy being so cruelly invaded. Sighing to himself softly, he turned to face Sirius' bed. Sirius was the last chance he had for a father/brother figure. He needed him for love and comfort. But every time Harry heard Sirius tell him he loved him, Harry couldn't believe it. It wasn't because of the Dursley's making him feel worthless. He had friends and a family now. It was that instead of being there for Harry when his parents had just died, he went to get revenge and got landed in Azkaban. He didn't even break out of the prison for him, but because he saw a picture of Pettigrew. Every time Harry thought these things he was engulfed with a painful feeling of betrayal.

"Why Sirius?" Harry asked the sleeping figure softly. "Did you not love me enough? Was Peter more important? Why did you leave me?" With tears threatening to escape Harry turned over and buried himself beneath his covers. Soon he fell asleep, safe in the knowledge that Sirius did not hear a word of his questions.

What Harry did not know was that Sirius was wide awake and mulling over his godsons words, regret burning his heart.

* * *

Don't kill me! I know that I was meant to answer the question but I felt it was too early in the story. Can't give all the plot away! Also, I did give you some hints about Serenity.

This is a short chapter and it took ages to write. There have been a few family problems at home. But enough of my excuses! I want to know what you thought! Opinions, questions, comments - don't be shy, **review! **

A reviewer asked me if I was going to only write the important chapters in the story and have the rest read offscreen. I don't think I will. Mainly because every chapter reveals something new and is equally important. Also, I want lots of bonding time! (You may of already guessed by the whole ending.)

Again, I want to thank everyone who read this story and continues doing so. I can't thank you enough. You all have my love! (Don't worry, I have loads to give out :D)

I love you all,

Vickie1996


	4. The Owls

**Disclaimer - **

**Vickie: I, the Great Vickie1996, am the creator of the amazing Harry Potter Universe. **

**J.K: mmmmm, mmmm! **

**Vickie: Really Joanne, you have to accept that I own the Harry Potter books. I know it's hard but ... life is hard. **

**J.K: Mmmm! Mmmmmm, mmm! **

**Vickie: Joanne, if you keep insisting you wrote the books I'll crucio you into the next world! **

**J.K: mmm ... **

**Sarah: Hey, Vickie ... Why is J.K Rowling, the author and creator of Harry Potter, gagged and tied to a chair? **

**Vickie: ... er ... I can explain?**

Hello my beautiful readers. I have not updated in so long because my laptop hates me. All my beautiful work, deleted! I know, I know; it was not the laptops fault and I should not abandon it in retaliation, but I was angry. So, dreadfully long story short, my laptop crashed and deleted the chapter I was working on ... also, schools been hectic (and it's only the second week back! God help me later) I just haven't had time to re-write the chapter ... But know I have!

Moving on from my extremely plausible excuses, I shall answer a question from a reviewer. How long shall this fic be? Well dear readers, I do not know. The book has 38 chapters. However, I intend to have lots of breaks and discussions and so on so fourth ... Roughly estimating, this story will be 60 chapters ... more or less.

Another reviewer asked about who was actually in the room and questioned the absence of Hagrid and McGonagall. I am far to lazy to right out the list and more of the order shall be mentioned in this chapter. However, the teachers (including Snape) are absent for the time being because they were attending Hogwarts buisness when the book was delivered and Serenity decided if they were needed, she could send them in later.

After they have read the story, I am planning on having a sequel. I am still undecided. The sequel shall involve the trio going back to Hogwarts with all their future knowledge and changing it all. Hopefully, I do not lose my passion for this story before then because I really want a sequel!

About the whole Hermione vs. Tonks situation. I am gravitating slightly towards Tonks because as much as I love Hermione, I just can see Harry and Tonks so clearly it's unbelievable. So, from know on ... I shall change my pairing to Harry/Tonks. I'm really sorry if this upsets my Hermione loving readers ... Things may change though. I seem to change my mind frequently at the moment. Enough with my ramblings - On with the story ...

* * *

**Fancy Changing The Future?**

The rooms connected to the kitchen were silent, occasionly the quiet was broken by a soft snore. Only one person was awake and that person was the infamous escaped convict, Sirius Black. His dark hair was tangled and held the evidence of a rough nights sleep. A sigh escaped into the calm. All night, Sirius, had been plagued by images of what might of been. If only he had not gone after Peter! Nursing a cup of black coffee between his hands, the animagus bit his lip, his eyes unseeing the table in front of him as he was pulled into a daydream. It may have been best to describe it as a day-mare as the visions that flashed before Sirius caused him unimaginable pain. An image of Harry, anger and hate portrayed in every movement, stared at him; his emerald eyes reaching right down to his soul.

"You left me! James and Lily trusted you to look after me ... You failed! ... You only broke out of Azkaban for Peter ... Always Peter ... You put a rat before your godson! ... Before your family!" The harsh words echoed through Sirius' mind, cutting him deeply. Why hadn't he gone to his godson? Why did he chase after Peter? Sirius dropped the cup he was holding onto the table, unbothered by any spillage. His hands clenched into fists, so tight that his nails had drew blood. A tear leaked from his grey eyes.

The betrayal of what Peter did had hurt him more than his time in Azkaban. Peter was the first person Sirius met on the Hogwarts Express and Sirius had briefly considered him being sorted into Hufflepuff. However, it had become increasingly obvious after James and Snivellus had arrived just how Gryffndor he truly was.

_Flashback ~_

_Peter was stood, his arm shaking and wand pointed at the greasy-haired boy in front of him. Sirius watched from the corner of the compartment, his lips forming a grin. In front of him stood Severus Snape, who was currently arguing with James Potter. Sirius had to admit that James came up with some great insults, maybe he should befriend him? A brief flicker of the name Marauders flashed through his vision, but Sirius ignored it. This had happened many times and was no longer interesting, unlike the argument. He didn't know when Peter had joined in, but he seemed to be stuttering out some insults to the dark-arts loving bastard. _

_"Y-you think you c-can just be m-mean to everyone! W-well, you can't! J-just get out, know one w-wants you h-here!" After a brief pause, where the occupants of the compartment were looking at Peter in something akin to shock, Snape grumbled and sneered. Finally, he disapeared. James turned towards Peter and Sirius, who had added his fair share of comments to the disagreement. He smiled a lopsided grin and held out his hand to Peter. _

_"The names James Potter, pranking genius and witch charmer, at your service." Sirius' eyes lit up with barely concealed glee. He jumped up and grabbed James hand and shook it firmly. _

_"Sirius Black, the one and only muggle-loving Black and Sex God, the pleasure is all yours." He smiled cheekily at James and he returned the grin. A fellow prankster! James then turned to Peter. _

_"P-peter Pettigrew, the most brave and valiant defender from Snivellus' everywhere." He held out his hand, his arm no longer shaking. James grabbed it and then sat down in a seat. Laughter filled the compartment. _

_"Ha! Snivellus! That's great ... Snivellus ... Need to remember that one." _

_And so that was the beginning of everything. The beginning of a friendship. The beginning of a betrayal._

_Flashback end ~ _

Sirius had always secretly admired Peter's courage. He was always so frightened of everything, yet stood up to his fears. Peter had also been the one consistant in his life, never varying moods or personalities. It had come as a great surprise when he realised Peter was the spy. He remembered that night so clearly. The ache of disbelief which still echoed through his veins. He thought Peter had been kidnapped, forced unwillingly to give up the secret. He had needed to find Peter. But when he found Peter ...

He was interuppted from his musings by a yawn. Looking in to the corner he saw Molly Weasley strecthing tiredly. She was currently sitting in her dog bed, completely normal. Internally, Sirius sighed. He could have used a day without Molly's shrieks or shouts. He watched her watching him. She was looking at him in pity. He didn't need anyones pity.

"Good morning Sirius, bad nights sleep?" Molly asked concerned. She wouldn't admit this aloud but that was one of the best nights sleep she had ever had. Something about sleeping in fur was just so comfortable. However, Sirius looked worse for wear. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and worry lines marred his forhead. His eyes were staring at her, but instead of the fierce flicker of mischief, their was just defeat. He looked lost. Molly, not knowing what else to do, got up and pulled the reluctant Sirius into a hug.

Sirius would have instantly pushed her of him if it weren't for the fact that from early on in his life, he never had any parental guidance or love. He could honestly not remember a time when his mother had hugged him. He was oddly comforted by Molly's hug. After a while, she pulled away and looked at him closely. "Why don't we go go and wake the others up?" She asked softly. Sirius, not one for showing weakness, just nodded. He stretched and went to his door, eager to wake his sleeping godson.

A few minutes later everyone was getting up and dressed when they heard a shout. Well, more like a roar, as the sound that reverbarated thorugh the room was completely animalistic. "SIRIUS!" Remus Lupin's voice was laced in anger. Confused about all the noise, everyone looked out of their rooms, wondering what was the commotion. They were met by the sight of Remus soaked and Sirius on the floor in laughter. The animagus was rolling around, unable to contain any of his chuckles. Until Remus had chucked a bucket full of water on him. Sirius instantly shut up.

"HEY! Unfair! Marauder rule number 17, never ever ever copy someone's prank, no matter how funny, classical, original or amazingly brilliant said prank is!" Sirius was pouting, looking the part of a kicked puppy. Harry, who had just come out of the bathroom (his hiding place until the whole incedent blew over), snickered lightly. His hair was just as untamable as ever, but had the I've just been thoroughly shagged, look. His eyes were filled with amusment as he watched his father's best friends bicker and banter. He was about to add his opinion to their battle of the wits when Dumbledore came out of his room.

He was wearing orange nightrobes, having not yet bothered to change, with smiling hedgehogs on them. He was also wearing slippers which curled round at the toe, the same violent orange as the nightrobes. Dumbledore was holding the book in his hand, the book which would change everyones future. His future. Harry swallowed a lump in his throat. Knowing his luck, something dreadfully awful or embarrasing would happen.

As everyone was seated round the table, eating a lovely breakfast provided by Serenity, the fire flared green. Out of the fire stumbled Hagrid. As he was a half-giant, he had to duck his head so he wouldn't clash with the ceiling. Hagrid watched the Order and Students eating breakfast, chatting aimbly. He was not exactly the sharpest fang on a Basilik, but he knew something important was going on. Hoping someone would take pity on him soon, he sat down next to Harry and helped himself to a giant mixing-bowl of poridge. Harry smiled at his saviour, as that is how he saw Hagrid when he saved him from the Dursleys, and filled him in on the events up to now. It took all of breakfast but finally everyone was ready to read.

The Headmaster went to open the book, but found he couldn't. Frowning, he tried a bit harder. However, it was still stuck. Whilst Dumbledore contemplated how to open the book, a note danced through the air and landed in front of Fred. Fred picked up the paper and stared at it, turning it this way and that way, trying to make sense of what was written. Then he read allowed.

"_Frederick, _

_You are responsible for reading this chapter, have fun!_

_Your Sincerely, _

_Serenity xxx"_

"Why do you look so confused, your reading." Tonks said, observing the confuddled Weasley. Fred looked at Tonks.

"There's just a few things I don't understand. The word responsible being one. And whoever decided to put reading and fun in the same sentance!" Fred turned to his brother, who looked equally confused as he. Chuckles erupted around the room at the twins antics. Fred picked up the book and opened it to the correct page.

**"A Peck of Owls "**

"Nice chapter name. Am I right in assuming that we have a few nocturnal visitors in this chapter?" Remus asked. Harry just shook his head fondly, remebering his Uncle's livid look at all the owls arriving.

**" 'What?' said Harry blankly. **

**'He left!' said Mrs Figg, wringing her hands. 'Left to see someone about a batch of cauldrons that fell of the back of a broom! I told him I'd flay him alive if he went, and now look! Dementors! It's just lucky I put Mr Tibbles on the case! " **

"Hold on a minute, didn't the last chapter say that when Dung dissapartaed that a cat ran away from under the car?" Hermione pondered. "Surely she can't of trained her cats to alert her to any suspicious goings on. It's too advanced for a cat's brain."

"Apparently, their part kneazle, like Crookshanks." Harry said, knowing how smart kneazles and their half-brethern could be.

"Actually Hermy, we have another -"

"theory. Mrs Figg is -"

"actually pretending to be a -"

"squib to fool unsuspecting -"

"muggles. However, once she has -"

"lured them into her home she -"

"turns them into cats!"

"Quite clever really,"

"Simply ingenious!"

Hermione's head was spinning. Their twin talk had confused her so much that she didn't even notice the name Hermy come up. If she did, the twins would have been killed. Painfully. Fred, hoping she wouldn't remember quickly began reading again.

**" But we haven't got time to stand around! Hurry, now, we've got to get you back! Oh, the trouble this is going to cause! I will kill him!' " **

A few of the order members, and a fair few students, smiled slightly. After all, the drunken rat was going to get what he deserved. However, for those who had met Arabella Figg on numerous occasions winced in sympathy. They looked a Mundungus, who was shuddering, remembering the screaming that had occured when Harry was safe again.

**" 'But -' The revelation that his batty old cat-obsessed neighbour knew what Dementors were was almost as big a shock to Harry as meeting two of them down an alleyway. 'You're - you're a witch?' " **

"Why so surprised? Weider things have happened to you." Tonks asked, curiousity bubbling to escape. The hat had pondered over putting her in Ravenclaw but their was too much of a hard-work ethic and loyalty to any friend or family. Heck! Even familly members of her friends.

Harry just shrugged. "Just because I've seen weirder does not mean I was any less shocked by them. Most of the weird stuff usually involves danger so I tend to block out the shock an get on with it." stated Harry, matter-of-factly. Tonks did not know how to respond so she nodded her head, showing that she understood. Fred continued.

**" 'I'm a Squib, as Mundungus knows full well, so how on earth was I supposed to help you fight off Dementors?" **

"That was actually quite refreshing." Harry said, smiling at the memories of his batty neighbour. Everyone looked confounded. Answering their unasked question, he resumed. "I mean, someone telling me that they wanted to help me fight instead of fighting for me." The Order and students still looked bewildered. "It may not be easy for you to understand, but just by that sentance she saw me as an equal. Where, if she had magic, we would of fought together. Not her just guarding me with a shield whilst I'm helpless." A few people nodded their understanding.

**" He left you completely without cover when I **_**warned**_** him-' **

**'This Mundungus has been following me? Hang on - it was him! He disapparated from the front of my house!' "**

"Quick reasoning Potter. We'll make an auror out of you yet." Moody declared. Molly looked dissaprovingly (when doesn't she?) at Moody. She certainly hoped they'd stop giving Harry dangerous ideas about careers. He would be perfect as a lovely Ministry official, doing paper work in an office somewhere, out of harms way. He may even reform the corrupt Ministry - wouldn't that be nice. Molly went of into a daydream with Harry as the Minister of Magic.

**'Yes, yes, **_**yes,**_** but luckily I'd stationed Mr Tibbles ender a car just in case, and Mr Tibbles came and warned me, but by the time I got to your house you'd gone - and now - oh, **_**what's**_** Dumbledore going to say? You!' she shrieked at Dudley, still supine on the alley floor. 'Get your fat bottom off the ground, quick!' **

**'You know Dumbledore?' said Harry, staring at her. "**

"Who doesn't know Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed, this book was making him look like an idiot. "I meant did she know Dumbledore personally. Like millions of people 'know' me but have never talked to me." Ron kind of understood. But then again, Dumbledore was so old, he must of talked to, like, everyone!

**" 'Of course I know Dumbledore, who doesn't know Dumbledore? "**

Fred and George cooed at Ron, commenting on his similarity to the old squib. Ron blushed the famous Weasley red. Across from Ron, Dumbledore stared at the rooms inhabitants. After years of being well-known (as he refused to think of himself as famous) he was still not used to it.

**" ****But come on - I'll be no help if they come back, I've never so much as transfigured a teabag.' " **

"Transfiguiring a teabag is a lot harder than you think. As we already know, Gamps Law of Elemental Transfiguiration states it is impossible to conjour food or drink from nowhere. This does not effect a teabag as it isn't really drink. However, it is a lot harder as you are focusing on the leaves and the bag rather than the taste or flavour. Even if you transfiguired a teabag successfully it would taste plenty horrible." Dumbledore lectured. Not only the students, but the adults as well were staring at him as though he had two heads and six eyes. Hermione was writing down everything he had said, making side notes in the margin of her parchment.

"Gamps Law is just an excuse for not being able to do something. After all, its impossible to survive the killing curse and here I am. It's impossible to escape Azkaban and here Srius is. Nothing is impossible, it's just that they haven't found a way to do it yet." Harry stated. He truly believed in his theory that magic had no limits. Whilst many would disagree with him, he was not to be dissauded.

"So, basically, you believe that magic is unlimited. Then how come we are born with a set amount which settles once we reach adulthood?" Dumbledore asked. He had heard reports that Harry was not acedemicly inclined, maybe this was the time to increase his interest in magical theory.

"Yes, I do believe that. We may only able to control a set amount of it but magic isn't just inside of us, it's everywhere. In the earth, in the air. What is magic?" He aimed this question at Dumbledore but Hermione answered, still scribbling on her parchment.

"Magic is an essence that lives in us. Most gain it through family but muggles produce magical offspring regulary."

"Wrong. Magic is like an energy that comes from the earth. It ... It's hard to explain. Magic is all around us, ready to be tapped into. We have a core inside of us that can store the magic, so when we are 'magically exhausted' our core has just got rid of all the magic stored and it needs to be built up again. Some people have a bigger core than others. If what your saying is true, Hermione, everytime we cast a spell, our magic would decrease. But that's not true or the older you get, the less power you would have. Dumbledore is evidence that your theory is wrong." Harry, unknowingly, had just shown the whole room that he was a lot brighter than he acted. But was that such a surprise? He had defeated a mountain troll in first year and a basilik in second.

"So basically, what your saying is that the earth is supplying us magic. Magical people are born with cores inside of us that can store this energy." Tonks asked, her mind buzzing with this information. If this was true, then maybe you could find a way to increase your magical core or fix it so no bad magic could get to it.

"Exactly!" Harry said, glad someone comprehended. "But it's not just magical people with a core. If my theory is correct Muggles and Squibs have a core too. It's just that their so small, they can't channel any magic through it. Like I said before, the earth is supplying the magic. My question is, how is this core made. Does magic itself pick or is it heditary, maybe it's random. Either way, magic is limitless, you just need a big enough core, or channel your magic through it at a slow enough rate that for every bit you give out a bit goes back in, so you don't end up passed out due to magical exhaustion."

Fred and George than burst into fake sobs. "Our poor Harry,"

"he's been infected with Hermionitis!"

"So young -"

"such a waste!"

Hermione frowned at the two. Hermionitis! Really, how immature. Dumbledore cleared his throat, eager to get on with the chapter. He was hoping that they would get to hear about the future soon, it was very exciting.

**"She stooped down, seized one of Dudley's massive arms in her wizened hands and tugged." **

"Lot of good that would do, the useless lump. He's so heavy, he could be a whale." Sirius mumbled. Everyone who heard his mumble giggled. Oh, how true.

**" 'Get **_**up,**_** you useless lump, get **_**up!' **_**"**

The people around the table all stared at Sirius. He looked at them, his eyes wide and misty. "I know things," he stage-whispered. He turned his gaze on Ron. Reaching out his arm, he pointed at the amused red head. "You are scared of spiders," he continued. A few people rolled their eyes, it wasn't an uncommon fact. Everyone had heard Ron scream during an Order meeting when he had seen a spider. Sirius then turned to Hermione. "You fear your family will be hurt because you don't know enough." Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. How the hell did he know that. The only people who knew were Harry and Ron; she had made them swear an oath to tell anyone. Hermione knew they daren't tell.

Sirius ignored the shocked looks and turned to Harry. "You ... you fear losing your morals. You fear you will give into the temptation." Harry's face was emotionless and his eyes hard. He stared at Sirius and spoke quietly.

"Sirius, snap out of it." He clicked his fingers in front of his godfathers face. Sirius jumped and looked at the many people staring at him.

"Sorry I dozed off, won't happen again. Guess I didn't get enough sleep," He grinned sheepishly, unknowing he had just told the room at large the Trio's worst fears. He looked at Fred. "Why did you stop. I didn't snore, did I?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide and a faint blush staining his cheeks. Fred just shook his head and continued.

**" But Dudley either could not or would not move. He remained on the ground, trembling and ashen-faced, his mouth shut very tight. **

**'I'll do it.' Harry took hold of Dudley's arm and heaved. " **

"Not going to work, mate."

"We've seen the size of Dudley**,"**

"And lets face it,"

"Your not that strong." The twins finsihed in unison. Harry did the only thing he thought of, he stuck out his tongue. The students all laughed.

**"With an enormous effort he managed to hoist him to his feet."**

"You must be stronger than you look," Ron said "because their is no way in hell that Dudley can loose _that_ much weight." Mrs Weasley tutted.

"Now Ron, he may be a rotten child but their is no need to make fun of his weight."

Ron looked at his mother and shook his head at her niavety. "Mum, he's huge!" Ron and the Twins said. Even Hermione nodded reluctantly.

**"Dudley seemed to be on the point of fainting. His small eyes were rolling in their sockets and sweat was beading his face; the moment Harry let go of him he swayed dangerously. **

**'Hurry up!' said Mrs Figg hysterically. "**

"Maybe Arabella could have been a bit more sympathetic. After all, he has just come into contact with a Dementor. It might even have a different effect on Muggles." Remus thought aloud. Even though he hated Dudley for hurting his cub when he was younger, he didn't want anyone hurt.

**"Harry pulled one of Dudley's massive arms around his own shoulders and dragged him towards the road, sagging slightly under the weight."**

"Stronger men than you have crumbled under that fatty's weight." Siruis said, well, serioulsy. (an: Really wished I could of avoided that) No one disagreed.

**"Mrs Figg tottered along in front of them, peering anxiously around the corner.**

**Keep your wand out' she told Harry "**

"It was already out," Hermione and Ron said at the same time. Everyone turned and looked at them.

"How do you know that?" Moody said, his voice gruff, but the curiosoity was laced beneath his words.

"It's Harry," They both said together. Harry was strongly reminded of the Weasley twins. The occupants of the room turned to Harry. Harry sighed.

"Am I that predictable?" He asked the room. Hermione just smiled at him, doing a random victory dance in her head. Ron just grinned at him.

"Nah mate, it's just we know you as well as you do." Ron answered. And it was true, all three of them knew each other better than themselves.

"Good lad, keep that wand out. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"Moody shouted. A few order members noticed how Harry's hand had twitched towards his pocket, where his wand was hidden. Fred and George were wiggling their eyebrows at each other.

"Fred! George! Now is not the time to make innapropiate jokes about peoples wands." Mrs Weasley lectured. That was it. The twins fell to the floor in laughter and the rest of the order had to hide their grins from Molly. "Hmph," Replied Mrs Weasley, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring.

**", as they entered Wisteria Walk. 'Never mind the Statute of Secrecy now, there's going to be hell to pay anyway, we might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg. Talk about the Reasonable Restriction of Underaged Sorcery ... this is **_**exactly**_** what Dumbledore was afraid of -"**

"I think she should have used the word worried instead of afraid. After all,"

"DUMBLEDORE IS AFRAID OF NOTHING!" Quite a few of the Order members yelled. All the students looked at them in confusion.

"In our schooling days we were told stories as first years about his great adventures. They would always end a story with that quote." Remus supplied, helpfully. Ginny nodded in understanding.

"We don't do that now, the first years are told of the Harry Potter adventures." Harry looked at Ginny with wide eyes.

"When did you do this? Why did you do this? I'm not that interesting!" Everyone stared at Harry. Harry blushed.

"We would always tell the Gryffindor first years when you were at quidditch practice. I don't know about the other houses. And we did this because your a legend around the school. First years need someone to look up to and whether you like it or not Harry Potter, it's going to carry on." Hermione glared at Harry.

"No offences 'Mione, but I don't think I'm the best of roll models. I don't think you want any more fist years wrestling Mountian Trolls, do you?" Harry asked, watching as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What's this about a Mountian Troll?" Molly Weasley interupted, her face stony and her hands moving towards her hips. Sirius too looked like he was about to stuff veritserum down their throats. Remus just looked worried.

Harry, hoping to get out of this situation unscathed, looked up at Mrs Weasley and grinned at her easily. "Just an inside joke Mrs Weasley. You know what Hogwarts rumours are like, next they'll be saying I snuck out at midnight to help Hagrid get rid of a Norwegian Ridgeback." Charlie tried not to show any reaction to what Harry just said. Surely his Mum wouldn't believe him but surprisingly she just nodded.

"Of course Harry dear, it must get difficult for you." She said gently. Oh, the poor dear. It must be so hard for him.

"You get used to it." Harry answered just as softly. All the Weasleys were impressed. Damn, he was good.

**"What's that at the end of the street? Oh, it's just Mr Pretince ... don't put your wand away, boy, don't I keep telling you I'm no use!" **

"I've still got my wand out," Harry sighed. He didn't want to admit this, but Mrs Figg was really annoying. Of course he had his wand out, who did she think he was, a first year? Moody nodded approvingly at Harry, who simply smiled in return.

**"It was not easy to hold a wand steady and haul Dudley along at the same time *but he managed*. Harry gave his cousin an impatient dig in the ribs, but Dudley seemed to have lost all desire for independent movement. He was slumped on Harry's shoulder, his large feet dragging on the ground. **

**'Why didn't you tell me you're a Squib, Mrs Figg?" asked Harry, panting with the effort to keep walking. 'All those times I came round your house - why didn't you say anything?' "**

"I'm afraid with you being around Muggles all the time, the chance of you accidently spilling our secret was to great. I gave her orders to not tell you anything, I'm truly sorry Harry." Dumbledore said. Harry just waved his hand casually, showing he didn't mind. Dumbeldore smiled, remembering when he could forgive someone so easily.

**" ' Dumbledore's orders. I was to keep an eye on you but not say anything, you were too young. I'm sorry I gave you such a miserable time, Harry, but the Dursleys would never have let you come if they'd thought you enjoyed it. It wasn't easy, you know ... but oh my word,' she said tragically, wringing her hands once more, 'when Dumbledore hears about this-how could Mundungus have left, he was supposed to be on duty until midnight-where is he? How am I going to tell Dumbledore what's happened? I can't Apparate-'**

**'I've got an owl, you can borrow her,' Harry groaned, wondering whether his spine was going to snap under Dudley's weight."**

"That's a very realistic possiblility. You may want to get your back checked out later. Wouldn't want Gryffindor's star seeker to be out of the game." Ron said. Fred and George nodded in agreement. Charlie looked over at Harry, eyeing his form critically.

"You've got the right build for a seeker. Light and speedy. I've heard loads about you from Oliver. He says your amazing." Charlie commented. Harry flushed but his face shone with happiness. Harry was still modest of his quidditch skills. However, he knew he must be better than most because Oliver would have never let just a name get into his team, unlike Slytherin.

"I've heard alot about your skills too. McGonagall says you could have played for England." Harry said, his eyes filled with awe. Charlie blushed. Surprisingly, his blush was only a soft pink, unlike the amazing Weasley blush.

"I was alright, but maybe not as good for a pro. Although, with the state of Englands team, Slytherin could do better." All the quidditch fanatics agreed solemnly. It was unfortunate that their national team was disgraceful had hadn't won the cup for a long, long time. Tonks banged her fist loudly on the table. Everyone looked up at her shocked.

"Ok, that's enough. I understand people, I really do. Englands team is terrible and can't score a goal for toffee. However, I want to finish this chapter." The Order just nodded, wanting to finish the chapter too. The students, on the other hand, questioned her desire.

"Why in a hurry, Tonksy?" Fred asked. Steam flew out of Tonks' ears and her hair changed to a firey red, a vivid comparrision to her cheery lime green from before.

"Never. Call. Me. Tonksy. AGAIN!" Tonks shrieked. Fred quickly stuttered out an apology, not wishing to deal with the witches ire. Seemingly pleased with his reaction, Tonks continued. "Well, the next chapter should involve me." She said, with a silent 'duh' at the end. Curiosity sated, Fred carried on reading.

**" 'Harry, you don't understand! Dumbledore will need to act as quickly as possible, the Ministry have their own ways of detecting underage magic, they'll know already, you mark my words-' "**

"Stupid invasion of privacy." Harry grumbled. Tonks patted his arm consolingly.

"You know, I nearly never made it into the Auror corps." She said. Harry looked at her in confusion. Why did this link in with nosy Ministry detecting spells/objects/thingy-me-bobs. "The Ministry have a policy of '3 strikes your out'. I had already used two of my underage magic warnings. They thought I was a potential law breaker." Tonks said with a grin. Harry smiled back at her.

**" 'But I was getting rid of dementors, I had to use magic-they're going to be more worried about what dementors were doing floating around Wisteria Walk, surely?' " **

"Harry, what have we learned about the Ministry and Fudge?" Tonks asked in lecture mode. Harry glanced at her in amusment.

"That most authority figuires who work for the Ministry are corrupt and have their own benefits in mind when dealing with problems." Harry answered.

"Correct. How will this problem benefit anyone working at the Ministry?" Tonks replied. Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The problem seems inconvinient and could not be twisted to make the Ministry in a better light. In fact," Harry paused, enlightment dawning. "it would make the Ministry seem in the wrong because it couldn't control the Dementors!"

"Therefore?"

"Therefore, if they punish me, the public will believe it's my fault. This completely overlooks the Ministries blunder." Harry stated.

Tonks inclined her head to Harry, satisfied. She was good at this teaching thing. Maybe she could be a teacher!

Hermione's voice was laced in anger. "That's terrible! Manipulating people and situations to suit their own agenda!"

"It's logical. Really, you could think of it as survival. They do anything they can from being the weakest. After all, it's survival of the fittest." Harry said. Hermione looked at him. Sometimes Harry's way of thinking surprised her. Whilst she tried to solve problems using complicated methods, Harry's basic, almost primal, way of thinking usual worked better.  
**  
" 'Oh, my dear, I wish it were so, but I'm afraid- MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!' "**

The occupants of the room winced as Fred raised his voice and shrieked. Mundungus was currenlty sat, his knees drawn to his chest, rocking backwards and forwards in his chair.

**" There was a loud crack and a strong smell of drink mingled with stale tobacco filled the air as a squat, unshaven man in a tattered overcoat materialised right in front of them. He had short, bandy legs, long straggly ginger hair and bloodshot, baggy eyes that gave him the doleful look of a basset hound. He was also clutching a silvery bundle that Harry recognised at once as an Invisibility Cloak. "**

"Your descriptions continue to impress me Harry," Remus laughed. Unfortunately, Molly did not find his description at all pleasing.

"Mudungus ... why do you smell of drink? I thought you promised not only me but Dumbledore, that you wouldn't drink whilst you were on watch duty!" Growled out Molly. Mundungus, however, did not hear her as he was still stuck in memories of the horrendous tongue-lashing he got of Mrs Figg. Not giving his mother a chance to rant, Fred started reading.

**" ' 'S' up, Figgy?' he said, staring from Mrs. Figg to Harry and Dudley. 'What 'appened to staying undercover?' "**

**'I'll give you undercover!' cried Mrs. Figg. 'Dementors, you useless, skiving sneak thief!'**

**'Dementors?' repeated Mundungus, aghast. 'Dementors, here?' "**

"No 'Dung, in Africa. Of course she meant here you idiot!" Sirius commented, sarcastically. Laughter followed his statement. When everyone was settled, Fred continued. 

**'Yes, here, you worthless pile of bat droppings, here!' shrieked Mrs. Figg. 'Dementors attacking the boy on your watch!'**

**'Blimey,' said Mundungus weakly, looking from Mrs. Figg to Harry, and back again. 'Blimey, I...'**

**'And you off buying stolen cauldrons! Didn't I tell you not to go? Didn't I?' "**

"I think he's got the point Figgy. You should really get Harry indoors and out of danger!" Moody mumbled under his breath.

**'I-well, I-' Mundungus looked deeply uncomfortable. 'It ... it was a very good business opportunity, see...'**

"Yeah, because stealing makes amazing business," Tonks muttered beneath her breath.

**Mrs. Figg raised the arm from which her string bag dangled and whacked Mundungus around the face and neck with it; judging by the clanking noise it made it was full of cat food.**

"Probally was," Hagrid added. He was good friends with the cat-loving Squib and had never seen his friend without a tin of cat food on her. Her only explanation was that 'what if I see a poor, hungry stray?'

**'Ouch-gerroff- gerroff, you mad old bat! Someone's gotta tell Dumbledore!'**

"You did well to alert me so quickly, Mundungus." Dumbledore said. The man in question blushed at the praise. Molly's face betrayed her disagreement about the Headmaster's statment and her wand hand twitched. Arthur, noticing his wife's actions reached towards her hand and squeezed it lightly in his own. 

**'Yes-they- have!' yelled Mrs. Figg, swinging the bag of cat food at every bit of Mundungus she could reach. 'And-it-had-better-be-you-and-you-can-tell- him-why-you-weren't-there-to-help!'**

**'Keep your 'airnet on!' said Mundungus, his arms over his head, cowering. 'I'm going, I'm going!'**

**And with another loud crack, he vanished.**

"I think you should work on your silent apparation. Can't have the muggles waking up now, can we?" Tonks offered the advice to 'Dung. He nodded sheepishly.

"It's also a great battle tactic. The element of surprise." Moody said. Harry, having an almighty respect to the famous aurour, had to struggle to avoid bringing out a quill and parchment and taking notes. Couldn't have him turning into Hermione. 'One's more than enough,' a tiny voice in his head commented, sounding an awful lot like Ron. 

**'I hope Dumbledore murders him!' said Mrs. Figg furiously. 'Now come on, Harry, what are you waiting for?'**

**Harry decided not to waste his remaining breath on pointing out that he could barely walk under Dudley's bulk.**

"Clever idea." Ron nodded.

**He gave the semi-conscious Dudley a heave and staggered onwards.**

**'I'll take you to the door,' said Mrs. Figg, as they turned into Privet Drive. 'Just in case there are more of them around... Oh my word, what a catastrophe ... and you had to fight them off yourself ... and Dumbledore said we were to keep you from doing magic at all costs... Well, it's no good crying over spilt potion, I suppose ... but the cat's among the pixies now...'**

**'So,' Harry panted, 'Dumbledore's ... been having ... me followed?'**

"For someone so observant, you seem to have a knack for stating the obvious." Tonks teased.

**'Of course he has,' said Mrs. Figg impatiently. 'Did you expect him to let you wander around on your own after what happened in June? Good Lord, boy, they told me you were intelligent...**

Ron snorted. Harry pouted. "Hey, I can be smart!" Ron just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say Harry, whatever helps you sleep at night." A few people winced at Ron's wording and expected Harry to start sulking. However, Harry stuck out his tongue playfully at the red head.

**Right ... get inside and stay there,' she said, as they reached number four. 'I expect someone will be in touch with you soon enough.'**

**'What are you going to do?' asked Harry quickly.**

**'I'm going straight home,' said Mrs. Figg, staring around the dark street and shuddering. 'I'll need to wait for more instructions. Just stay in the house. Goodnight.'**

**'Hang on, don't go yet! I want to know-'**

**But Mrs. Figg had already set off at a trot, carpet slippers flopping, string bag clanking.**

"Bet that was annoying. Asking all those questions and getting barely any answers." Hermione said. Ron and Harry exchanged a smile. Hermione and her never-ending stream of questions made Hermione, well, Hermione. 

**'Wait!' Harry shouted after her. He had a million questions to ask anyone who was in contact with Dumbledore; but within seconds Mrs. Figg was swallowed by the darkness. Scowling, Harry readjusted Dudley on his shoulder and made his slow, painful way up number four's garden path.**

**The hall light was on. Harry stuck his wand back inside the waistband of his jeans, rang the bell and watched Aunt Petunia's outline grow larger and larger, oddly distorted by the rippling glass in the front door.**

"Damn boy, don't you know anything. Elementry wand safety is not just fun and games, it's serious stuff." Moody mumbled to himself.

**'Diddy!**

The Weasley twins looked at Harry in shock. "You weren't kidding,"

"She really does call him Diddy,"

"What kind of mother is she ..."

"To scar someone so young with those,"

"awful .."

"horrendous ..."

"despicable ..."

"foul ... names!" They finished in unison, as was the Weasley twin way. Harry shook his head fondly. He was always grateful that his relatives never liked him enough to nickname him. He doubted he would have been strong enough to remain sane.

**About time too, I was getting quite-quite- Diddy, what's the matter?'**

**Harry looked sideways at Dudley and ducked out from under his arm just in time. Dudley swayed on the spot for a moment, his face pale green ... then he opened his mouth and vomited all over the doormat.**

"Close call," Sirius chirped. He had a phobia of vomit. He considered it a very reasonable phobia. After all, spewing up bodily fluid that belonged in your insides was just wrong.

**'DIDDY! Diddy, what's the matter with you? Vernon? VERNON!'**

**Harry's uncle came galumphing**

"What's that word mean?" Ron asked, confused.

Hermione answered. "Galumph is a verb that means to move heavily and clumisly."

Ron still looked confused and turned to Harry. "Why did you use the galumphy word instead of saying he moved heavily and clumsily? Wait ... How do you even know what galumph-thingy-me-bob means?"

Harry went red under his stare. "Er ... I was bored so I decided to read this book ..."

Fred, George and Ron fell from their chairs. Hermione squealed in delight.

"You've ... you've gone over to the dark side!" The three Weasleys yelled from their posistion on the floor. Hermione just tutted but couldn't remove the smile from her face. How many times had she had to force her boys to study? And know, Harry was reading in his spare time. Wonders never cease!

**out of the living room, walrus moustache blowing hither and thither as it always did when he was agitated. He hurried forwards to help Aunt Petunia negotiate a weak-kneed Dudley over the threshold while avoiding stepping in the pool of sick.**

**'He's ill, Vernon!'**

**'What is it, son? What's happened? Did Mrs. Polkiss give you something foreign for tea?'**

"Their iz nothing wrong wiz food from anuzzer country." Fleur huffed, her arms crossed in anger. Bill whispered something in her ear and she immediately brightened. 

**'Why are you all covered in dirt, darling? Have you been lying on the ground?'**

**'Hang on-you haven't been mugged, have you, son?'**

**Aunt Petunia screamed**.

"Melodramatic bitch," Sirius muttered. Not quiet enough however.

"SIRIUS BLACK! DO NOT USE THAT LANGUAGE AROUND THE CHILDREN!" Molly fumed. All the students found Sirius' prediciment hilarious and further increased Molly's anger at the animagus by gasping and lifting their hands to their ears. Srius glared at them as Remus fought a chuckle. 

**'Phone the police, Vernon! Phone the police! Diddy, darling, speak to Mummy! What did they do to you?'**

**In all the kerfuffle nobody seemed to have noticed Harry, which suited him perfectly. He managed to slip inside just before Uncle Vernon slammed the door and, while the Dursleys made their noisy progress down the hall towards the kitchen, Harry moved carefully and quietly towards the stairs.**

**'Who did it, son? Give us names. We'll get them, don't worry.'**

**'Shh! He's trying to say something, Vernon! What is it, Diddy? Tell Mummy!'**

"No Diddy, don't tell Mummy." The twins repeated, in sync.

**Harry's foot was on the bottom-most stair when Dudley found his voice.**

**'Him.'**

"Damn, Diddy! What did we say!"  
**  
Harry froze, foot on the stair, face screwed up, braced for the explosion.**

**'BOY! COME HERE!'**

**With a feeling of mingled dread and anger, Harry removed his foot slowly from the stair and turned to follow the Dursleys.**

"Good, Harry. No sudden movements. You don't want to provoke the animals." Tonks praised. Laughter ensued. 

**The scrupulously clean kitchen had an oddly unreal glitter after the darkness outside. Aunt Petunia was ushering Dudley into a chair; he was still very green and clammy-looking. Uncle Vernon was standing in front of the draining board, glaring at Harry through tiny, narrowed eyes.**

**'What have you done to my son?' he said in a menacing growl.**

"Nothing," the room recited, as one.

**'Nothing,' said Harry, knowing perfectly well that Uncle Vernon wouldn't believe him.**

**'What did he do to you, Diddy?' Aunt Petunia said in a quavering voice, now sponging sick from the front of Dudley's leather jacket.**

Sirius shuddered at the mental images.

**'Was it-was it you-know-what, darling? Did he use-his thing?'**

The Weasley twins wiggled their eyebrows. "Oh, you naughty boy Harry Potter."

"Using your ... _thing_ ... on that young boy,"

"You need to be punished," More eyebrow wiggling commenced. Harry was completely red in the face thorugh embarrasment and Mrs Weasley thorugh anger.

"Fred ... George ..." She trailed of, knowing her threat worked perfectly. Both twins gulped simaltaneously and Fred continued reading.

**Slowly, tremulously, Dudley nodded. **

"Stupid pig," Tonks muttered. Harry agreed.

**'I didn't!' Harry said sharply, as Aunt Petunia let out a wail and Uncle Vernon raised his fists.**

"He better not of hit you," Sirius said in a low growl.

"He didn't." Harry confirmed.

**'I didn't do anything to him, it wasn't me, it was-'**

**But at that precise moment a screech owl swooped in through the kitchen window. Narrowly missing the top of Uncle Vernon's head,**

"Damn," Sirius and Remus swore. They had both taken an extreme dislike to the Dursleys and wished much misfotrune on them.

**it soared across the kitchen, dropped the large parchment envelope it was carrying in its beak at Harry's feet, turned gracefully, the tips of its wings just brushing the top of the fridge, then zoomed outside again and off across the garden.**

**'OWLS!' bellowed Uncle Vernon, the well-worn vein in his temple pulsing angrily as he slammed the kitchen window shut. 'OWLS AGAIN! I WILL NOT HAVE ANY MORE OWLS IN MY HOUSE!'**

"Chill dude, it's just an owl. How else would you send messages?" Emmeline Vance asked. Being a pureblood witch, she had never come into contact with muggle post and had only briefly touched the subject in Muggle Studies. Hermione, whom was sitting next to Emmeline, whispered to her the workings of the mail service. 

**But Harry was already ripping open the envelope and pulling out the letter inside, his heart pounding somewhere in the region of his Adam's apple.**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.**

**The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.**

"They can't do that!" Many people yelled. Harry shrugged.

"Fudge can." No one could argue this fact as Fudge seems to be poking his nose, and bowler hat, into everyones business. 

**As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on the twelfth of August.**

**Hoping you are well,**

"Yeah right ..." Harry said.

**Yours sincerely,**

**Mafalda Hopkirk**

**Improper Use of Magic Office**

**Ministry of Magic**

**Harry read the letter through twice. He was only vaguely aware of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia talking. Inside his head, all was icy and numb. One fact had penetrated his consciousness like a paralysing dart. He was expelled from Hogwarts. It was all over. He was never going back.**

"Even if I had to create an allias for you and change your appearance magically, you would still be going back to Hogwarts." Professor Dumbledore said firmly. It was true, too. He would do anything to ensure that Harry could go to Hogwarts with his friends. All the students nodded in agreement.

"Professor Dumbledore's right, Harry. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without you." Ginny spoke. 

**He looked up at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon was purple-faced, shouting, his fists still raised; Aunt Petunia had her arms around Dudley who was retching again.**

**Harry's temporarily stupefied brain seemed to reawaken. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand. There was only one thing for it. He would have to run-now.**

"Running away solves nothing. Fighting on the other hand ..." Moody started, only to be cut of by Molly.

"Alastor! Don't go giving them any ideas." She lectured.

**Where he was going to go, Harry didn't know but he was certain of one thing: at Hogwarts or outside it, he needed his wand.**

"I think you proved to us that you don't need to rely on it too heavily." Hermione stated, stiffling her jealousy at Harry's amazing displays of wandless magic.

**In an almost dreamlike state, he pulled his wand out and turned to leave the kitchen.**

**'Where d'you think you're going?' yelled Uncle Venon.**

"Away from you, you obese Walrus!" Tonks cried. She really didn't like Vernon and seemed to display her displeasure at every available oppurtunity.

**When Harry didn't reply, he pounded across the kitchen to block the doorway into the hall. 'I haven't finished with you, boy!'**

**'Get out of the way,' said Harry quietly.**

**'You're going to stay here and explain how my son-'**

**'If you don't get out of the way I'm going to jinx you,' said Harry, raising the wand.**

"I'm glad you didn't. That might have caused more trouble." Dumbledore mused.

**'You can't pull that one on me!' snarled Uncle Vernon. 'I know you're not allowed to use it outside that madhouse you call a school!'**

"Madhouse! Does he mean Hogwarts?" Ron asked. Harry nodded recultantly. Hagrid and Dumbledore had gone quite red in the face. Every professor at Hogwarts had a special bond with the school and to hear it insulted in such away by a pathetic excuse of a muggle made anger boil in their veins. 

**'The madhouse has chucked me out,' said Harry. 'So I can do whatever I like. You've got three seconds. One-two-'**

**A resounding CRACK filled the kitchen. Aunt Petunia screamed, Uncle Vernon yelled and ducked, but for the third time that night Harry was searching for the source of a disturbance he had not made.**

"You do seem to do that alot." Ginny said.

**He spotted it at once: a dazed and ruffled-looking barn owl was sitting outside on the kitchen sill, having just collided with the closed window.**

**Ignoring Uncle Vernon's anguished yell of 'OWLS!'**

"Whooo! Go owls!" The twins cheered.

**Harry crossed the room at a run and wrenched the window open. The owl stuck out its leg, to which a small roll of parchment was tied, shook its feathers, and took off the moment Harry had taken the letter. Hands shaking, Harry unfurled the second message, which was written very hastily and blotchily in black ink.**

**Harry-**

**Dumbledore's just arrived at the Ministry and he's trying to sort it all out. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE. DO NOT DO ANY MORE MAGIC. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR WAND.**

**Arthur Weasley**

"That letter could have had a few more details included in it." Remus suggested lightly. 

**Dumbledore was trying to sort it all out ... what did that mean? how much power did Dumbledore have to override the Ministry of Magic?**

"Enough," Dumbledore said. However, his reply was cut of as everyone else responded.

"A lot." Harry just blushed in response. This book was seriously making him looking like an idiot.

**Was there a chance that he might be allowed back to Hogwarts, then?**

"I'll make sure of it," the Headmaster said. Harry's only reply was a quiet 'thank you sir'.

**A small shoot of hope burgeoned in Harry's chest, almost immediately strangled by panic-how was he supposed to refuse to surrender his wand without doing magic?**

"Hide it," Sirius suggested.

**He'd have to duel with the Ministry representatives, and if he did that, he'd be lucky to escape Azkaban, let alone expulsion.**

"Have you noticed that your confident enough to think you'd be able to fair well in a duel with ministry representatives yet when it comes to school work you think your hopeless?" Hermione rambled all in one breath. 

**His mind was racing... He could run for it and risk being captured by the Ministry, or stay put and wait for them to find him here. He was much more tempted by the former course,**

"They tempt him so," Sirius' voice was raspy. Dumbledore instantly recognised the tone from when Trelawney had phrophesized Harry's marking by Voldemort.

"What do you mean Sirius?" Remus asked, cautiously. He had known his friend to act spaced out during their school days. Hell, he had even noticed it during his time escaped. But not once had he heard Sirius as he was.

"I didn't say anything Remus. Did you get enough sleep last night?" Sirius asked, completely normal. Remus stiffled the urge to remark on Sirius' lack of sleep. He wanted to know what's going on.

"You did say something though!" Ron protested. "You said 'They tempt him so'. What did you mean?" Ron asked eagerly, leaning forwards. Harry himself was confused. What the hell was up with Sirius?

"I ... I can't remember." Sirius looked pensive then his expression changed to urgency. "I can't remember! What's going on ... It's all foggy ... Why can't I remember!" He spoke hurriedly, his sentances blurred together into one unintelligable reply. He settled as he felt his godson put his arms around him.

"It's okay Padfoot, we'll figuire this out." Harry said, reassuringly. Harry inclined his head to Fred (an: damn these rhymes!). Fred continued reading.

**but he knew Mr. Weasley had his best interests at heart**

Mr and Mrs Weasley smiled at each other. Harry was such a nice boy and they had expressed their wishes to stay at the Burrow permenantly. Unfortunately, the blood wards would keep him safe, much more safer than at the Burrow.

**... and, after all, Dumbledore had sorted out much worse than this before...**

Dumbledore sighed, remembering the trouble Harry and his friends caused. He couldn't really complain as they didn't go out looking for trouble and they always redeemed their actions, even if it was unwilling, by saving someones life or stopping dark forces. 

**'Right,' Harry said, 'I've changed my mind, I'm staying.'**

"I don't think he'll like that Harry," Tonks said. Many agreed.

"At that moment in time, I just couldn't be bothered. I didn't really care what he thought." Harry explained to the green haired auror. 

**He flung himself down at the kitchen table and faced Dudley and Aunt Petunia. The Dursleys appeared taken aback at his abrupt change of mind.**

"It is quite perculliar." Hermione said. "Harry is one of the most stubborn people I know and hardly ever changes his mind after he's formed a plan."

"Lily was amazingly stubborn. You act alot like her Harry," Sirius said. Everyone stopped and looked at Sirius. They had never, ever, ever heard him compare Harry to Lily. He usually went on about how much Harry and James were alike. Weird.

**Aunt Petunia glanced despairingly at Uncle Vernon. The vein in his purple temple was throbbing worse than ever.**

Fred and George crossed their fingers, mumbling under their breath, 'let it burst, let it burst, let it burst.'

The students, seeing their actions, soon copied. After a few seconds Tonks joined in. Then Sirius, followed by Remus. Hagrid was next. Soon, everyone was chanting under their breath whilst Harry chuckled in amusment.

"I'm sorry to dissapoint you but it didn't burst." He adressed the room. Many pouts and groans met his proculamation. 

**'Who are all these ruddy owls from?' he growled.**

"Wizards and Witches and Magical Beasts, Goblins and Ghosts and ..." Ron listed, his voice making a tune as he went through the list.

"Mate, I don't get mail of Goblins or Ghosts or Magical Beasts." Harry said. Ron blew a rasberry in a very Peeves-esque way. They both laughed at their banter.

**'The first one was from the Ministry of Magic, expelling me,' said Harry calmly. He was straining his ears to catch any noises outside,**

"Good boy, be alert." Moody interrupted. Everyone waited for his customary Constant Vigilance but it never came. Everyone relaxed into their seats.

**in case the Ministry representatives were approaching,**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed. Again, Harry's wand was in his hand and pointed at the aged auror. Moody seemed satisfied. "Rule number 1 - expect the unexpected." Harry returned his wand to his pocket and looked at the table, unwilling to meet anyones gaze. He felt Tonks hand hold his underneath the table. He noticed her hand was quite small and soft; it fitted in his hand perfectly. He was cut of from his musings by Fred.

**and it was easier and quieter to answer Uncle Vernon's questions than to have him start raging and bellowing. 'The second one was from my friend Ron's dad, who works at the Ministry.'**

**'Ministry of Magic?' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'People like you in government?**

"What does he mean, people like you. There's nobody like the Great Harry Potter!" Fred and George chirped, trying to decrease the tension which had been slowly growing and suffacating everyone in the surrounding area.

"Your relatives are like the muggle versions of death eaters." spat out Shacklbolt, his deep tones mixed with rage. He had met many Muggleborns famillies who acted just the same way and it honestly sickened him.

After hearing his statment, Harry nodded. He was quick to add, "Only in their views, they've never tortured me." He grinned easily. Despite this, it did nothing to ease the icy atmosphere.

**Oh, this explains everything, everything, no wonder the country's going to the dogs...'**

"I think someone needs to explain to him that our government and his are in no way related unless it comes to Muggle/Wizard relations. We have no say in how Muggles run their country." Professor Dumbledore ranted. 

**When Harry did not respond, Uncle Vernon glared at him, then spat out, 'And why have you been expelled?'**

"Don't answer Harry! He may actually use brain cells to figuire it out himself and his head might explode!" Tonks said excitedly, bouncing in her chair, immitating blood, gore and brain exploding out of her head with her hands.

"I'm sorry I didn't think of it at the time. That plan is ingenious!" Harry praised. Tonks hair turned from lime green to Narcissa-blonde. Her noise became a bit more pointy and she raised it up to the ceiling.

"I know, it was an amazing plan. But I always come up with amazing plans because I'm amazing!" She drawled. After a few minutes of laughter, Fred carried on from where he let of. 

**'Because I did magic.'**

**'AHA!'**

Everyone winced and shielded their ears as Fred shouted out the line.

**roared Uncle Vernon, slamming his fist down on top of the fridge, which sprang open; several of Dudley's low-fat snacks toppled out and burst on the floor. **(Many faces portrayed disgust at the fridges capacity) **'So you admit it! What did you do to Dudley?'**

**'Nothing,' said Harry, slightly less calmly. 'That wasn't me-'**

"It seems he won't listen to reason," Arthur said softly. He had met the Muggle a few times and had never particullary liked him. He didn't seem to be a nice chap. 

**'Was**,' **muttered Dudley unexpectedly,**

"Now the fat twerp can talk," someone muttered. Whom, Harry was unsure.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia instantly made flapping gestures at Harry to quieten him while they both bent low over Dudley. **

Fred and George waggled their eyebrows at each other until they pictured the mental image and turned a nasty shade of green.

**'Go on, son,' said Uncle Vernon, 'what did he do?'**

**'Tell us, darling,' whispered Aunt Petunia.**

**'Pointed his wand at me,' Dudley mumbled.**

**'Yeah, I did, but I didn't use-' Harry began angrily, but...**

**'SHUT UP!' roared Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in unison.**

"No! You shut up!" George said, his voice mocking the stereotypical girl 'accent.'

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"If you both don't shut up, I'll shut you up!" Moody roared. The twins paled dramatically and George nudged Fred to get back on with the book. 

**'Go on, son,' repeated Uncle Vernon, moustache blowing about furiously.**

**'All dark,' Dudley said hoarsely, shuddering. 'Everything dark. And then I h-heard ... things. Inside m-my head...'**

"Didn't you used to hear voices inside your head Harry? Maybe insanity runs in the family," Ron commented playfully. Harry rolled his eyes at the uncertain looks he was getting from random members of the Order. Tonks was just looking at him curiously, for which he was oddly grateful for.

"The voices weren't in my head, they were in the walls." Harry spoke, as if it explained everything. It didn't.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exchanged looks of utter horror. If their least favourite thing in the world was magic, closely followed by neighbours who cheated more than they did on the hosepipe ban, people who heard voices were definitely in the bottom ten. They obviously thought Dudley was losing his mind.**

"It's been a long time coming I'd say," Hagrid muttered. 

**'What sort of things did you hear, popkin?' breathed Aunt Petunia, very white-faced and with tears in her eyes.**

**But Dudley seemed incapable of saying. He shuddered again and shook his large blond head, and despite the sense of numb dread that had settled on Harry since the arrival of the first owl, he felt a certain curiosity. Dementors caused a person to relive the worst moments of their life... What would spoiled, pampered, bullying Dudley have been forced to hear?**

"Come to any conclusions Detective Potter?" Tonks asked.

"I'm afraid not Detective Tonks. How about you?" He replied, his voice, like her own, changing to suit a posh accent.

"No conclusions as of yet good sir. Give it time sir, give it time." 

**'How come you fell over, son?' said Uncle Vernon, in an unnaturally quiet voice,**

The twins gasped. "Vernon Dursley ... doing something ... unnatural!" They looked at each other with wide eyes.

**the kind of voice he might adopt at the bedside of a very ill person.**

**'T-tripped,' said Dudley shakily. 'And then-'**

**He gestured at his massive chest. Harry understood: Dudley was remembering the clammy cold that filled the lungs as hope and happiness were sucked out of you.**

Tonks had once again placed her hand in Harry's, offering what little support she could give him. She had only come across Dementors once or twice during Auror training. It wasn't right that a boy, no man, a man of 15 knew the effects of a Dementor so well. 

**'Horrible,' croaked Dudley. 'Cold. Really cold.'**

**Harry shuddered, remebering the Dementors icy chill, freezing him to the core. **

**'OK,' said Uncle Vernon, in a voice of forced calm, while Aunt Petunia laid an anxious hand on Dudley's forehead to feel his temperature. 'What happened then, Dudders?'**

**'Felt ... felt ... felt ... as if ... as if...'**

**'As if you'd never be happy again,' Harry supplied dully.**

Everyone shivered, all having come into contact with Dementors.

**'Yes,' Dudley whispered, still trembling.**

**'So!' said Uncle Vernon, voice restored to full and considerable volume as he straightened up. 'You put some crackpot spell on my on so he'd hear voices and believe he was-was doomed to misery, or something, did you?'**

"He is the stupidest Muggle I've ever listened too!" Hagrid huffed in disbelief. 

**'How many times do I have to tell you?' said Harry, temper and voice both rising. 'It wasn't me! It was a couple of dementors!'**

"Harry, you know what happens when you lose your temper," Hermione chided.

"Don't want any more relative shaped balloons," Ron added. The trio shared a smile.

**'A couple of-what's this codswallop?'**

**'De-men-tors,' said Harry slowly and clearly. 'Two of them.'**

**'And what the ruddy hell are dementors?'**

**'They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban,' said Aunt Petunia.**

"How does she know?" A few people murmured.

"As much as I'd like to forget it, she was Lily's sister." Remus explained. 

**Two seconds of ringing silence followed these words before Aunt Petunia clapped her hand over her mouth as though she had let slip a disgusting swear word. **("melodramatic!")** Uncle Vernon was goggling at her. Harry's brain reeled. Mrs. Figg was one thing-but Aunt Petunia?**

"Got to admit, this would have blown my mind." Ron said. 

**'How d'you know that?' he asked her, astonished.**

**Aunt Petunia looked quite appalled with herself. She glanced at Uncle Vernon in fearful apology, then lowered her hand slightly to reveal her horsy teeth.**

**'I heard-that awful boy-telling her about them-years ago,' she said jerkily.**

**'If you mean my mum and dad, why don't you use their names?' said Harry loudly but Aunt Petunia ignored him. She seemed horribly flustered.**

"She probally doesn't remember them. She's never spoken them for as long as I can remember." Harry said. Anger boiled thorugh Sirius' veins.

"Harry? Did you know your parents names before Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, his voice a deadly whisper. Silence descended the table. Harry didn't answer, giving everyone the evidence they needed.

**Harry was stunned. Except for one outburst years ago, in the course of which Aunt Petunia had screamed that Harry's mother had been a freak, he had never heard her mention her sister. He was astounded that she had remembered this scrap of information about the magical world for so long, when she usually put all her energies into pretending it didn't exist.**

"So much energy wasted Petunia," Dumbledore whispered to himself. He still remembered reading those letters she had sent, begging for him to accept her into Hogwarts. With a heavy and regretful heart he had sent her replies of how she lacked the magical ability. Hate was born from jealousy and it seems Petunia never let that go. 

**Uncle Vernon opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it once more, shut it, then, apparently struggling to remember how to talk,**

"It's understandable," Harry said, "After all, with such a small brain as his, even Hermione would find it difficult to remember how to properly function."

**opened it for a third time and croaked, 'So-so-they-er-they-er-they actually exist, do they-er- Dementy-whatsits?'**

**Aunt Petunia nodded.**

**Uncle Vernon looked from Aunt Petunia to Dudley to Harry as if hoping somebody was going to shout 'April Fool!'**

"What's April Fool?"

"It sounds fun!" Said Fred and George.

"It's a day where, until noon, you can play jokes on friends, family and even strangers. After the prank, you shout 'April fool!' and your meant to be instantly forgiven." Harry explained.

"Cool ... When is this amazing day?" All the pranksters in the room were keen to hear Harry's answer.

"The first of April."

"No way!" three voices shouted. Fred, George and Sirius looked at Harry, eyes wide. "That's my birthday!" They finshed in unison. Even Mrs Weasley looked slighty shocked and amused.

"What a weird coincidence. Very ironic." Tonks stated. Harry grinned at her.

**When nobody did, he opened his mouth yet again, but was spared the struggle to find more words by the arrival of the third owl of the evening. **

"You really are popular tonight, ain't cha Harry!" Ginny commented.

**It zoomed through the still-open window like a feathery cannon-ball and landed with a clatter on the kitchen table, **('Wonder if him and Pig are related?' Ron whispered to Harry**.**) **causing all three of the Dursleys to jump with fright. Harry tore a second official-looking envelope from the owl's beak and ripped it open as the owl swooped back out into the night.**

**'Enough-effing-owls...'**

Mrs Weasley tutted at the use of his language.

**muttered Uncle Vernon distractedly, stomping over to the window and slamming it shut again.**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two minutes ago,**

"Very precise," someone muttered sarcasticly.

**the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on the twelfth of August, at which time an official decision will be taken.**

**Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should therefore consider yourself suspended from school pending further enquiries.**

**With best wishes,**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Mafalda Hopkirk**

**Improper Use of Magic Office**

**Ministry of Magic**

Everyone chuckled at the voice Fred put on. It reminded Harry of a miserable old hag who lived down the road from him.

**Harry read this letter through three times in quick succession. The miserable knot in his chest loosened slightly with the relief of knowing he was not yet definitely expelled, though his fears were by no means banished. Everything seemed to hang on this hearing on the twelfth of August.**

**'Well?' said Uncle Vernon, recalling Harry to his surroundings. 'What now? Have they sentenced you to anything? Do your lot have the death penalty?' he added as a hopeful afterthought.**

"No, we have something much worse." Sirius said quietly, forgetting about who had asked it and why. However, Tonks did not.

"That no good Muggle! How dare he hope you'd die! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!" Tonks cried. Harry looked at her in shock, like most of the table. Tonks ignored the looks she was recieving and grabbed hold of Harry's arm, burying her face into it and hugging him close. Harry didn't react to this and just let her get on with it. He shot a sharp glare at the Weasley twins, successfully dispelling any comments they were about to make. Many others caught the look and decided that it was best for their health if they did not remark on Harry's sitiuation.

**'I've got to go to a hearing,' said Harry.**

**'And they'll sentence you there?'**

"Stupid, lousy Muggle," said Tonks, her voice muffled from her hiding place. 

**'I suppose so.'**

**'I won't give up hope, then,' said Uncle Vernon nastily.**

Growls echoed around the room. Albus looked sadly at the book. How had he been so blind as not to see what had been going on in Harry's home. Albus vowed he'd be more observant and to help Harry as much as he could. 

**'Well, if that's all,' said Harry, getting to his feet. He was desperate to be alone, to think, perhaps to send a letter to Ron, Hermione or Sirius.**

**'NO, IT RUDDY WELL IS NOT ALL!' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'SIT BACK DOWN!'**

**'What now?' said Harry impatiently.**

"Patience is a virtue and an important skill if you want to become an auror, Harry," Kingsley supplied. Their was so much potential bubbling inside of the raven-haired boy and Kingsley hated seeing potential go to waste.

**'DUDLEY!' roared Uncle Vernon. 'I want to know exactly what happened to my son!'**

**'FINE!' yelled Harry, and in his temper, red and gold sparks shot out of the end of his wand,**

"That's just like what happened at Olivanders." Harry said. Hagrid nooded and grinned at him.

"Very Gryffindor," Hagrid replied.

"How many wands did you go through to find yours?" Hermione asked curiosly. Harry sighed, remembering the hours of torture and the destruction of Olivanders shop.

"Too many," Hagrid and Harry exclaimed. Hermione just nodded, not really understanding the story behind the answer.

**still clutched in his hand. All three Dursleys flinched, looking terrified.**

"You should be," Sirius said threateningly. His voice was cold, making those around him flinch. 

**'Dudley and I were in the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk,' said Harry, speaking fast, fighting to control his temper. 'Dudley thought he'd be smart with me, I pulled out my wand but didn't use it. Then two dementors turned up-'**

**'But what ARE Dementoids?'**('Dementors!' Hermione squealed.) **asked Uncle Vernon furiously. 'What do they DO?'**

**'I told you-they suck all the happiness out of you,' said Harry, 'and if they get the chance, they kiss you-'**

"Try and remember your speaking to a Muggle. They might take it well if he finds out that a dark monster kissed his kid. Damn, it was probally the first kiss he ever recieved!" Emmeline Vance said.** "**

**'Kiss you?' said Uncle Vernon, his eyes popping slightly. 'Kiss you?'**

"I know it's a hard concept to understand because with a horse for a wife, you've probably never been kissed." Ginny said. This statment was met with snorts of amusment. 

**'It's what they call it when they suck the soul out of your mouth.'**

**Aunt Petunia uttered a soft scream.**

**'His soul? They didn't take-he's still got his-'**

"If he's still able to rat out Harry, then he's still got his soul." Sirius said, a frown evident on his face. Petunia was Harry's aunt, surely she was just a little worried about Harry being in the same danger. Sirius was not niave. He knew that Harry and his relatives did not get on. However, Petunia knew about magic and the Wizarding World. She should treat Harry better. 

**She seized Dudley by the shoulders and shook him, as though testing to see whether she could hear his soul rattling around inside him.**

"The soul is not a physical thing. Therefore it is not commonly heard." Dumbledore lectured. He only just realised how much he missed teaching at Hogwarts. Although he loved his job, there was nothing nicer than getting that feeling of satisfaction when a student mastered a spell.

"Commonly?" Hermione asked. Dumbledore just nodded, offering no other explanation. 

**'Of course they didn't get his soul, you'd know if they had,' said Harry, exasperated.**

**'Fought 'em off, did you, son?' said Uncle Vernon loudly, with the appearance of a man struggling to bring the conversation back on to a plane he understood. 'Gave 'em the old one-two, did you?'**

"Imagine a Demetor boxing with Dudley!" Tonks cried in laughter. Harry joined in with her, mentally watching Dudley and a Dementor fighting each other, with colourful boxing gloves strapped to there hands. 

**'You can't give a Dementor the old one-two,' said Harry through clenched teeth.**

**'Why's he all right, then?' blustered Uncle Vernon. 'Why isn't he all empty, then?'**

"Because of Harry!" the students yelled. Quite a lot of the adults wished to comment to, but stopped the urge.

"Because of the patronus," Harry corrected them. Everyone stared at Harry. A blush rose to his cheeks, painting them red.

"Because of Harry!" the students responded, more threateningly. Harry just sighed, not the slightest bit intimidated.

**'Because I used the Patronus-'**

**WHOOSH. With a clattering, a whirring of wings and a soft fall of dust, a fourth owl came shooting out of the kitchen fireplace.**

**'FOR GOD'S SAKE!' roared Uncle Vernon, pulling great clumps of hair out of his moustache, something he hadn't been driven to do in a long time. 'I WILL NOT HAVE OWLS HERE, I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS, I TELL YOU!'**

"I'd like to see you try stopping an owl delivering it's letter." Emmeline Vance said, sniffing slightly at the idiocy of these muggles. Suddenly Harry burst into laughter. Everyone looked at Harry as if he'd lost his mind, which was a quite reasonable theory. Between the chuckles, Harry tried to speak.

"Hogwarts," he said, his voice laced with amusment. He paused briefly to let out a few more giggles, then continued. "letter." This time Hagrid joined in. 

**But Harry was already pulling a roll of parchment from the owl's leg. He was so convinced that this letter had to be from Dumbledore, explaining everything-the dementors, Mrs. Figg, what the Ministry was up to, how he, Dumbledore, intended to sort everything out-that for the first time in his life he was disappointed to see Sirius's handwriting. Ignoring Uncle Vernons ongoing rant about owls, and narrowing his eyes against a second cloud of dust as the most recent owl took off back up the chimney, Harry read Sirius's message.**

**Arthur has just told us what's happened. Don't leave the house again, whatever you do.**

"I would have liked to have told you more but I wasn't allowed." Sirius said. 

**Harry found this such an inadequate response to everything that had happened tonight that he turned the piece of parchment over, looking for the rest of the letter, but there was nothing else.**

"Sorry," Sirius apologised, softly. Harry just waved his hand, unconcerned.

"I'm not angry about that anymore. Probally let of all my anger then." Harry supplied. 

**And now his temper was rising again. Wasn't anybody going to say 'well done' for fighting off two dementors single-handed?**

"Well done Harry! Well done!" Fred and George applauded. Tonks giggled quietly as she heard Harry mutter under his breath, 'well done Patronus, well done.'

**Both Mr. Weasley and Sirius were acting as though he'd misbehaved, and were saving their tellings-off until they could ascertain how much damage had been done.**

"We understand that you might be feeling a bit put out. But we just couldn't let you put your life in danger and not expect the consequences." Arthur said softly. 

**'-a peck, I mean, pack of owls shooting in and out of my house. I won't have it, boy, I won't-'**

"And i was starting to like these books," Fred exclaimed.

"But they named a chapter title after a quote from walrus man!" George finished. Many shook there heads at the twins antics. 

**'I can't stop the owls coming,' Harry snapped, crushing Sirius's letter in his fist.**

**'I want the truth about what happened tonight!' barked Uncle Vernon. 'If it was demenders who hurt Dudley, how come you've been expelled? You did you-know-what, you've admitted, it!'**

"To think, your relatives fear magic just as we there You-Know-Who." Molly said.

"Call him Voldemort," both Harry and the Headmaster replied, simaltaneously. 

**Harry took a deep, steadying breath. His head was beginning to ache again. He wanted more than anything to get out of the kitchen, and away from the Dursleys.**

**'I did the Patronus Charm to get rid of the dementors,' he said, forcing himself to remain calm. 'It's the only thing that works against them.'**

**'But what were Dementoids doing in Little Whinging?' said Uncle Vernon in an outraged tone.**

**'Couldn't tell you,' said Harry wearily. 'No idea.'**

**His head was pounding in the glare of the strip-lighting now. His anger was ebbing away. He felt drained, exhausted. The Dursleys were all staring at him.**

**'It's you,' said Uncle Vernon forcefully. 'It's got something to do with you, boy, I know it. Why else would they turn up here? Why else would they be down that alleyway? You've got to be the only-the only-' Evidently, he couldn't bring himself to say the word 'wizard'. The only you-know-what for miles.'**

"Stupid fear," Harry muttered. Tonk's only reply was squeezing his arm, which she was still hugging. She, reluctantly, let go and put her hands in her lap, still sitting very close to Harry. Sirius noticed this and a smile appeared on his face. 

**'I don't know why they were here.'**

**But at Uncle Vernon's words, Harry's exhausted brain had ground back into action. Why had the dementors come to Little Whinging? How could it be coincidence that they had arrived in the alleyway where Harry was? Had they been sent? Had the Ministry of Magic lost control of the dementors? Had they deserted Azkaban and joined Voldemort, as Dumbledore had predicted they would?**

"No, they have not joined Voldemort yet. However, I believe it will be soon." Dumbledore's aged voice commented. A chilling sensation ran down Harry's spine. His worst fear in control of the man who wants him dead.

**'These demembers guard some weirdo prison?' asked Uncle Vernon, lumbering along in the wake of Harry's train of thought.**

**'Yes,' said Harry.**

**If only his head would stop hurting, if only he could just leave the kitchen and get to his dark bedroom and think...**

"Try not to think too much, your poor brain is mental enough as it is." Ron said. The trio laughed together, unaware of the looks they were gettinh from the order. Without even knowing it hey had made the Order more determined to protect innocents from the wrath of Voldemort. Seeing the casual jokes and the childrens care free attitude, it made them realise just what the war would do to them. It would make their friendships strained and jokes hard to come by.

**'Oho! They were coming to arrest you!' said Uncle Vernon, with the triumphant air of a man reaching an unassailable conclusion. 'That's it, isn't it, boy? You're on the run from the law!'**

"No he's not, but he knows someone who is," Sirius said, an unhinged grin scaring a few people in the room. Harry chuckled.

"The Dursley's still think your a crazed killer." Harry added. This little piece of information made Sirius' grin grow. Revenge, sweet revenge. 

**'Of course I'm not,' said Harry, shaking his head as though to scare off a fly, his mind racing now.**

**'Then why-?'**

**'He must have sent them,' said Harry quietly, more to himself than to Uncle Vernon.**

**'What's that? Who must have sent them?'**

**'Lord Voldemort,' said Harry.**

Many people flinched at the dark wizards name. Next to him he heard Tonk's mutter 'Moldyshorts' under her breath. Harry smiled.

**He registered dimly how strange it was that the Dursleys, who flinched, winced and squawked if they heard words like 'wizard', 'magic' or 'wand', could hear the name of the most evil wizard of all time without the slightest tremor.**

"Muggles don't understand the absolute devastation he caused." Someone in the room wheezed. Harry remembered him as Elphius Dodge. 

**'Lord-hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, his face screwed up, a look of dawning comprehension coming into his piggy eyes. 'I've heard that name ... that was the one who...'**

**'Murdered my parents, yes,' Harry said dully.**

**'But he's gone,' said Uncle Vernon impatiently, without the slightest sign that the murder of Harry's parents might be a painful topic. 'That giant bloke said so. He's gone.'**

Tonk's hand sqeezed Harry's hand tightly. Sirius looked furious at the blatant way he disregarded his best friends deaths.

**'He's back,' said Harry heavily.**

**It felt very strange to be standing here in Aunt Petunia's surgically clean kitchen, beside the top-of-the-range fridge and the wide-screen television, talking calmly of Lord Voldemort to Uncle Vernon. The arrival of the dementors in Little Whinging seemed to have breached the great, invisible wall that divided the relentlessly non-magical world of Privet Drive and the world beyond. Harry's two lives had somehow become fused and everything had been turned upside-down; the Dursleys were asking for details about the magical world, and Mrs. Figg knew Albus Dumbledore; dementors were soaring around Little Whinging, and he might never return to Hogwarts. Harry's head throbbed more painfully.**

"Told you not to think too much," Ron sang. Harry huffed and pouted, making an overall adorable picture. Molly chided her son not to be mean 'to the poor dear' and many of the elderly witches tried to give him advise on how to get rid of headaches. Tonks and Harry shared a look and tried to stiffle their laughs.

**'Back?' whispered Aunt Petunia.**

**She was looking at Harry as she had never looked at him before. And all of a sudden, for the very first time in his life, Harry fully appreciated that Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister. He could not have said why this hit him so very powerfully at this moment. All he knew was that he was not the only person in the room who had an inkling of what Lord Voldemort being back might mean. Aunt Petunia had never in her life looked at him like that before. Her large, pale eyes (so unlike her sisters) were not narrowed in dislike or anger, they were wide and fearful. The furious pretence that Aunt Petunia had maintained all Harry's life-that there was no magic and no world other than the world she inhabited with Uncle Vernon-seemed to have fallen away.**

**'Yes,' Harry said, talking directly to Aunt Petunia now. 'He came back a month ago. I saw him.'**

Everyone but Harry frowned at that. It was so unfair that a young boy had to witness the rebirth of his parents murderer. Tonks, once again, was holding onto his hand under the table. Harry was thankful for her support. 

**Her hands found Dudley's massive leather-clad shoulders and clutched them.**

**'Hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his wife to Harry and back again, apparently dazed and confused by the unprecedented understanding that seemed to have sprung up between them. 'Hang on. This Lord Voldything's back, you say.'**

**'Yes.'**

**'The one who murdered your parents.'**

**'Yes.'**

**'And now he's sending dismembers after you?'**

**'Looks like it,' said Harry.**

**'I see,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his white-faced wife to Harry and hitching up his trousers. He seemed to be swelling, his great purple face stretching before Harry's eyes. 'Well, that settles it,' he said, his shirt front straining as he inflated himself, 'you can get out of this house, boy!'**

Dumbledore's face paled. Harry was in so much more danger if he left. They were all in danger if he left. How cruel was Harry's homelife. He made a promise to himself to do anything he could to make sure Harry could get out of that house. 

**'What?' said Harry.**

**'You heard me-OUT!' Uncle Vernon bellowed, and even Aunt Petunia and Dudley jumped. 'OUT! OUT! I should've done this years ago! Owls treating the place like a rest home, puddings exploding, half the lounge destroyed, Dudley's tail, Marge bobbing around on the ceiling and that flying Ford Anglia-OUT! OUT! You've had it! You're history! You're not staying here if some loony's after you, you're not endangering my wife and son, you're not bringing trouble down on us, if you're going the same way as your useless parents, I've had it! OUT!'**

"Compared to some of the things that have happened at Hogwarts, I'd say they've got of pretty lightly," Hermione said.

"I'm surprised he didn't comment on the escape of the Brazillian Boa Constricter." Ron mused. Harry had told his best friends all of his accidental magic and about the zoo after he realised he was a parselmouth in his 2nd year. 

**Harry stood rooted to the spot. The letters from the Ministry, Mr. Weasley and Sirius were all crushed in his left hand. Don't leave the house again, whatever you do. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE.**

"Good boy Harry, stay where you are." Molly mumbled under her breath.

**'You heard me!' said Uncle Vernon, bending forwards now, his massive purple face coming so close to Harry's, he actually felt flecks of spit hit his face.** ("ewww") **'Get going! You were all keen to leave half an hour ago! I'm right behind you! Get out and never darken our doorstep again! Why we ever kept you in the first place, I don't know, Marge was right, it should have been the orphanage. We were too damn soft for our own good, thought we could squash it out of you, thought we could turn you normal, but you've been rotten from the beginning and I've had enough**

The room had gone silent. Everyone looked to Harry, who refused to meet anyones eyes. Sirius was the first to talk, "Squash it out of you? Turn you normal?" His godfathers face was getting redder and redder in rage. However, his voice was still a deadly whisper. "What does he mean Harry?"

"We'll talk later Sirius." Harry mumbled. At this, Tonks launched herself into his arms and sobbed onto his shoulder. How could anyone hurt Harry? Harry just sighed in resignition and rubbed soothing circles into her back.

**-OWLS!'**

**The fifth owl zoomed down the chimney so fast it actually hit the floor before zooming into the air again with a loud screech. Harry raised his hand to seize the letter, which was in a scarlet envelope, but it soared straight over his head, flying directly at Aunt Petunia, who let out a scream and ducked, her arms over her face. The owl dropped the red envelope on her head, turned, and flew straight back up the chimney.**

"HOWLER!" The twins chirped, trying to rid the tension which had mounted in the room. 

**Harry darted forwards to pick up the letter, but Aunt Petunia beat him to it.**

**'You can open it if you like,' said Harry, 'but I'll hear what it says anyway. That's a Howler.'**

**'Let go of it, Petunia!' roared Uncle Vernon. 'Don't touch it, it could be dangerous!'**

"Only for your ears," Remus said, remembering the Howlers the Marauders got. He remembered how Sirius' face would always light up. Remus knew because Sirius never recieved Howlers from his parents, who were determined to forget his very existence. No, Sirius liked Mrs Potter's Howlers the best. This was because she always included Sirius and James into the Howler and always chided Sirius like he was her own. She had mentioned a few times about how 'you brothers should stop causing trouble'. Remus remembered because of the grin that stayed on his face for days afterwards. 

**'It's addressed to me,' said Aunt Petunia in a shaking voice. 'It's addressed to me, Vernon, look! Mrs. Petunia Dursley, The Kitchen, Number Four, Privet Drive-'**

**She caught her breath, horrified. The red envelope had begun to smoke.**

**'Open it!' Harry urged her. 'Get it over with! It'll happen anyway.'**

**'No.'**

**Aunt Petunia's hand was trembling. She looked wildly around the kitchen as though looking for an escape route, but too late-the envelope burst into flames. Aunt Petunia screamed and dropped it**.

"Stupid muggles," Tonks muttered into Harry's chest. 

**An awful voice filled the kitchen, echoing in the confined space, issuing from the burning letter on the table.**

**'REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA.'**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she might faint. She sank into the chair beside Dudley, her face in her hands. The remains of the envelope smouldered into ash in the silence.**

Everyone looked at Harry to explain what the Howler meant. "I still don't know what it meant," Harry said. He had asked but recieved no answer. He didn't notice Dumbledore's mischievious smile. 

**'What is this?' Uncle Vernon said hoarsely. 'What-I don't-Petunia?'**

**Aunt Petunia said nothing. Dudley was staring stupidly at his mother, his mouth hanging open. The silence spiralled horribly. Harry was watching his aunt, utterly bewildered, his head throbbing fit to burst.**

"Maybe you should get that checked out," Sirius said, worry lacing his words. He jated knowing his godson was in pain. 

**'Petunia, dear?' said Uncle Vernon timidly. 'P-Petunia?'**

**She raised her head. She was still trembling. She swallowed.**

**'The boy-the boy will have to stay, Vernon,' she said weakly.**

"I know he's messy, but he's not that bad." Hermione commented.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Harry denied.

"I've seen your dormitory, it's a mess," Hermione sniffed. The twins eyes lit up in amusment.

"What were you doing in their dormitory?" They asked in unison.

"Oh, you know," Hermione said.

"The usual ..." Ron continued.

"Saving the world and stuff." The trio finished together. The twins stared at them with wide eyes. They stole their thing! That was just ... impossible! 

**'W-what?'**

**'He stays,' she said. She was not looking at Harry. She got to her feet again.**

**'He ... but Petunia...'**

**'If we throw him out, the neighbours will talk,' she said. She was rapidly regaining her usual brisk, snappish manner, though she was still very pale. 'They'll ask awkward questions, they'll want to know where he's gone. We'll have to keep him.'**

**Uncle Vernon was deflating like an old tyre.**

"She has him tied right round her little finger," Tonks said to Harry. Harry agreed. They all knew who wore the trousers in that relationship. 

**'But Petunia, dear-'**

**Aunt Petunia ignored him. She turned to Harry.**

**'You're to stay in your room,' she said. 'You're not to leave the house. Now get to bed.'**

**Harry didn't move.**

"Your too curious sometimes." Hermione commented. Her statement recieved many nods of agreement by many of the rooms occupants. Harry just rolled his eyes. 

**'Who was that Howler from?'**

**'Don't ask questions,' Aunt Petunia snapped.**

"Then how are you meant to learn?" Moody snapped. He always welcomed questions from the new recruits because it showed they were serious and ready to learn to be the best. 

**'Are you in touch with wizards?'**

**'I told you to get to bed!'**

**'What did it mean? Remember the last what?'**

**'Go to bed!'**

**'How come-?'**

**'YOU HEARD YOUR AUNT, NOW GO UP TO BED!'**

"That's the end of the chapter," Fred said. (an: Damn these ryhmes)

"Harry, we need to talk." Dumbledore said. He noticed Harry looked worried. "It's going to be a discusison about your new living arrangments." Harry's eyes widened to an incrediable degree. Dumbledore got up and walked towards a door which appeared from no where. He opened it and held it open for Harry. It looked like a small version of the Gryffindor common room. soft sofas in red and gold with thick rugs and comfy cushions. Harry walked into the room, and Tonk's trailed after him. When the Headmaster was about to say something, whe shot him a look which stopped his sentance before it even began.

Sirius soon followed after Tonks and Remus jumped up, not wanting to be left out. When Molly tried to get up, she found she was stuck to her chair. She was about to protest when she noticed she was silenced. She watched in anger as the door shut behind Dumbledore. People were whispering between themselves about what the book had revealed. Still trying to move, she suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder. Looking down she saw Mundungus Fletcher, asleep. 'Damn!' screamed Mrs Weasley in her mind. She looked in horror at the puddle of drool forming on her cardigan.

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It took me forever and I do apologize, but school comes first. I'm working hard on my GCSE preparation so I can get into a good college. I hope you don't mind how long this will take.

I've seem to have put in a lot of Honks in this chapter. Not purposley, but the chapter is alive and writing itself. I've aslo included lots of Serenity vs. Molly. I needed an outlet for my humour. I'm thinking of adding Luna and Nevile into the room when the book-people are on their way to Hogwarts. Give me your opinion on that. Tell me if you like the Harry/Tonks and just basically review. Feedback is food for my soul.

You may notice some bad spelling but I can't get onto a spellchecker so I am currently terrible at spelling. Sorry about that.

Hope you had fun reading that chapter ... I hope to update again soon (no promises.)

Tattie Byes,

Vickie1996 xxx


	5. The Revenge

**Disclaimer - I do not own this amazing universe or the HP characters. Only Serenity is mine. And if you try to take Serenity *cracks knuckles and laughs evilly* YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! The universe and characters belongs to JK Rowling, who (incase you didn't know) is a goddess. Have fun :D **

I've decided to miss out the talk with Dumbledore and the others that last chapter was leading to because, to be bluntly and fairly honest, I couldn't be bothered. We all get the picture though, Harry leaves the Dursleys, Sirius gets unofficial custody and everyone is happy and all smiles - got it :) Also, I don't know if I mentioned it but if I have a sequel it will not be another reading the books fic. It shall purelly be based on the trio going back to Hogwarts and the development of Harry as a person and hero.

Thanks again to everyone who reads this fic ... I love you all and if I could, I'd give you every single chocolate flavour Bertie-Beans I could. Which, I admit, are very far an few between.

* * *

**Fancy Changing The Future? **

Harry exited the Gryffindor-esque room quietly, his mind racing with disbelief yet extreme joy. He had done it! He had finally escaped the Dursleys. Admittedly, it was the result of humilitating and shameful hours of questioning by his headmaster and overly concerned dogfather/friend/honourary uncle. It was unfortuante that the discussion about his previous living arrangments had turned out to end in dire dramatics and unnerving agression. However, he was now free from the Dursleys!

With a fond smile, Harry remembered the way Tonks had held his hand all the way through their talk. He relished in her security and comfort, portraying this as clearly as he could by offering his own hand to the immense torture of her deathly tightening grip. According to his bruised fingers, Tonks was likely going to prank the Dursleys; prank them so hard they would most likely wish they had never been brought into this earth. But with faces like theirs, he supposed they must think that an awful lot.

As he walked into the kitchen/reading area, he noticed everyones eyes following him. He sent them a beaming smile which lit up his face and shone clearly through his emerald green eyes. He never knew how happy he could be, but now he knew what memory would be used to fuel his Patronus charm. Sirius, whom was walking behind him, was beaming just as greatly. Although he still was not released from the prison that is Grimmauld Place, he now had Harry to keep him company in the summer and Christmas holidays.

Harry stopped midway to the table which everyone was gathered round and stated, his voice laced with amusment and relief, "Members of the Harry Potter guard, stand to attention," He yelled, in a great likeness to Muggle drill sergants. The specific members of the Order shot up and saluted Harry, trying to keep the smiles threatening to burst on their face at bay. Harry slowly began to pace in front of them. "Since the beggining of summer, you have had to face traumatic and fearful events which greater men ..."

"And woman!" Tonks interrupted. Harry shot her a look and Tonks replied by sticking her tongue out at him. Rolling his eyes, Harry continued.

"Which greated men _and_ woman have never survived with their sanity intact. On a weekly basis, you have had to guard Harry Potter. Whilst Harry Potter is not usually considered a sight for sore eyes, any witness can agree that the Dursleys could cause a blind person to scream in pain." Harry paused whilst many around the room snorted and voiced their agreement.

"You have achieved a great achievement by remaining sane and well. The exception to that would be Tonks. However, it is still unknown whether she was born as such."

"Hey!"

"I must thank you for your wonderful job at keeping me safe from major threats. Dumbledore and myself wish to express this gratitude by moving me permanently to Grimmauld Place, needing no one to watch the Dursleys." Harry finsihed. After a moment of stunned silence, applause thundered around the room and all of the guard were whooping and shouting and jumping and goodness who knows what else. Harry even caught a few slumped on the ground in relief, tears of joy leaking from their eyes. He was crushed by hugs of grateful order members as many had the terrible experience of meeting, or even just looking, at Harry's relatives.

Whilst the celebrations took place, Serenity transfiguired chouches from chairs and conjoured party food from air. No one was at all bothered by the fact that the celebration was not that Harry no longer was living at the Dursleys. It was more of a way to relieve the stress and tension that the war had suddenly thrust on their shoulders. Even if Voldemort had not attacked millions of towns and cities, they were now on high alert, hoping against hope that their families wouldn't be the first casulties, the first victims.

Harry, whom was now dancing along to the music Serenity had helpfully supplied, watched the fire with a critical eye. He had noticed that the party was a distraction from Serenity. How he knew, he didn't know or ponder about. He was keeping an eye out for one of Serenity's jokes. However, his eyes kept on travelling to the dancing green flames in the fire. 'Wait ... green flames?' Harry thought. Quickly, he grabbed his wand (which was useless, but the intruder wouldn't know that) and pointed at the fire. Everyone had noticed as the music had suddenly stopped and a chilly breeze floated thorugh the room.

After a tense and silent 20 seconds, a sneering Snape walked into the room. As he looked around the room, his eyes flashed with confusion and hidden horror. However, the greasy potions masters face remained impassive. "If you don't stop pointing that wand at my face Potter I'll put you in detention for the rest of your schooling days!" Snape drawled calmly, although he was eyeing the wand cautiously. After all, he was a Slytherin; he had a healthy dose of self preservation.

Yet still Harry didn't move his wand. He didn't look angry. Instead, he looked absolutely enraged.

"Harry, I must ask you to keep your wand away from any Hogwarts member of staff." Dumbledore demanded. His voice was still soft and jovial, but it held the undertone of seriousness. Harry, extremely reluctant, moved his wand away from the smirking proffesor. "I'm glad to see you could join us Proffesor Snape." Dumbledore girnned. Snape just muttered something under his breath which suspisiously sounded alot like 'manipulative old goat.'

"Can someone please explain to me what the devil is going on here?" (an: A Very Potter Musical - watch it!) Snape asked the Headmaster. Before any one could reply, George and Fred leapt into the air, gasping and clutching at their hearts.

"He ..."

"He ..."

"He said please!" They yelled together. All the other students followed their lead in panicking and Ron even fainted. Tonks even sobbed.

"It's the end of the world I tell you! Say your last goodbyes!" The students who were taught by Snape were running round and murmuring goodbyes to each other. Fred and George went up to Harry and saluted him.

"We'd like to tell you before our inevitable passing that you've done a bang tidy job of being bloody brilliant." The twins said. Harry though, was not part of the theeatrics. He was stood, looking emotionlessly at his potions professor.

"Why is the Death Eater here?" Harry snarled, his eyes flashing in anger. Gasps echoed around the room as the adults looked at the young boy in shock. Dumbledore looked dissaprovingly at Harry.

"Harry my boy, I can assure you that Proffesor Snape is not on the dark side and I trust him with my life." Dumbledore finished. Harry's eye twitched as he looked at the sneering man who was grumbling obsene phrases and insults that Harry couldn't be bothered listening to. He wasn't actually looking at the man, more at the mans arm. Right on his forearm he knew without a doubt that a tattoo; no, a brand, was burned into his skin. The malivent skull and the twisting and hissing snake were wound together in an inky black and whenever Harry even saw a glimps of any Death Eaters mark, he felt the need to attack.

He felt a calming presense next to him, taking his arm in her hands and pulling at it gently. Tonks' voice was whispering comforting words to him but he couldn't make out exactly what she was saying. His mind was hazed with such rage that he surprised he didn't blow anything up. He wouldn't usually be reacting to Snape like this, he knew for a fact that to wind Snape up successfully you just had to act Marauderish. The problem was that ever since Cedrics death he had been forced to view Moldieshorts memories of previous attacks. Seeing the dark mark just made him revisit the murders and rapes. And to think Snape had that mark branded onto him willingly. His insides boiled.

Before he had a chance to speak though, a note fell from the ceiling. It swayed lightly, carried by the invisible wind, it's presence not effecting the eery silence. Harry grabbed the note out of the air quickly, his reflexes sharp. He struggled to stop the pure rage from escaping, his hands shaking as a result. Opening the letter, he frowned at the contents. He read it slowly, processing the information, but not willing to speak it aloud.

_Dear Harry, _

_I want you to stop being so terrible to Mr Snape (I refuse to call him proffesor because, from what records we could obtain, he didn't teach much.) I understand that he's a death eater but I can swear down on my magic and life that Mr Snape died for the light. He is a spy for Dumbledore currently and he gives his life to help in the future. _

_Don't worry - I don't expect you to be friendly with him and braid each others hair. God forbid Harry Potter and Severus Snape getting on. I just don't want you to attack him. You're too noble to attack him when he's defensless but in your anger you might do something you regret. So calm down! _

_Ever your hero,_

_Serenity ... xxx_

Harry smiled slightly, shaking his head fondly thinking of Serenity. He crushed the note in his hand, his anger only disapating slowly. He may not be able to attack Sanpe, and he may be on their side, but it did not mean he would trust him. Harry patted Tonks hand, which was still clutched to his arm, reassuringly. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair.

The room had returned to how it once was, the chairs neatly around the table and the food gone. Snape still looked confused although he covered it behind a mask of indifference. Harry looked at him, studying him. He knew that Snape had saved him in his first year and maybe a few more times than he'd like to admit. However, he was also the reason Sirius was on the run. He let a childish grudge blind his judgement. Harry tried to find something physical which would prove to Harry that Serenity was right, that he was indeed a spy for the light. But every inch of him reeked of dark and evil. Coming to a decision, he sent a sharp and reluctant nod towards Sanpe and sat down as far away as he could, Tonks following him worriedly.

"You sure your good?" She asked him softly. Harry nodded, smiling at her concern. After a moment, she just sighed and sat next to him, not pushing him to talk about his feelings or smothering him with understanding. Tonks didn't understand his motives but she didn't let that push aside her concern. Her quiet support was refreshing and he revelled in it.

The room was still quiet, only a few people conversing about irrelavent things. Dumbledore cleared his throat, hoping that the issue had been resolved.

"Well Proffesor Snape, we recieved books from someone from the future about the very near future. Apparently, we need to change what happens." Dumbledore explained. Snape's brow furrowed.

"I see. May I ask as to why the Gryffindor Trio and Tweedle Dee and Dum are here? I was unaware they were part of the Order." Snape sneered at the students. He noticed how Harry didn't react, still talking quietly to Tonks. If he were not in complete control of his body, he was sure his eyes would have widened comiclly. The two people in question were sat comfortablly facing the other. There hands were interwined, although it didn't seem like they noticed. What surprised him though was Potter. His body was not tensed, like he was accustumed to seeing on the boy. He was relaxed but not slouching, leaning forward ever so slighlty so he could be nearer to the young metamorph. He understood it was a subconcious reaction but it still shocked him slightly. The pair looked like another he had witnessed, a couple who caused his insides to burn with jealousy. He was brought out of his musings by a chiding Headmaster.

"Really Severus, I thought you would know by now that most action happends around Harry. Therefore, the books are from his perspective." Severus could no longer keep his mask in place. Horror poured from his eyes. Then ...

"I refuse to read about some spoilt brat and his time breaking the rules!" He got up and stomped (much like a three year old) his way over to the fire. Throwing floo powder into the flames he shouted an unrecognisable location. However, just before anyone could warn him, he stepped into the fire and got launched back out again. He flew across the room and into the awaiting chair that Serenity had kindly put out for him. Whilst he tried to shake of the dizziness, he failed to notice the slowly creeping chains that confined him to the chair.

After 5 minutes of struggle, he swallowed his pride and ignored the sniggering Order members and students. "Headmaster, I'd appreciate if you got me out of this infernal death trap!" He roared. Unfortunately, when he said this, the chains tightened. 'Damn you Potter!' he screamed in his mind.

"I am afraid I can't do anything. My wand does not work in the conditions are generous host has made for us." He went on to explain to Snape about Serenity. He looked over at Molly Weasley who kept on looking over her shoulder jerkily. She seemed extremly paranoid about this grudge that Serenity insisted on holding. He was determined to not end up like the snivelling red head.

A note fell down and hovered in front of the bound potions master.

_"Don't mess with a Potter ..." _

Then, the note burst into flames. Breaking the obvious tension in the room, George picked up the waiting book and exclaimed "Is everyone sitting comfortably ..." He paused, waiting for a response. When he looked at Snape he burst into laughter as the poor man was gagged, unable to even cough.

He cleared his throat and continued. "Now everyone is sitting comfortably, let us begin."

**The Advance Guard **

* * *

Okay, I get why you might be annoyed - it's a short chapter. But to be honest, I just couldn't think of what to include. I tried writing this chapter 5 times but it all sounded so forced. Finally I was able to produce this chapter.

It's been a long while since I updated but I've been revising for resits in Chemistry. (Loathe as I am to admit it, it's my worst subject. One, that sadly, I need to become a doctor.)

I shall now explain in further detail about the sequel I plan on having. It shall not be another reading the book fic because to be honest - one is enough. Also, with my pairing and how I plan to end the fifth book (which will not be canon, so all you canon lovers - sorry) it would be impossible to do book six or seven. Therefore, it will be a fic about the trio going back to school with there future knowledge and changing it all. Tonks will also play a big part in the sequel, even if she doesn't stay with Harry. (After all, I am extremely undecided about alot of pairings.)

Please review because honestly, it makes my day seem worthwhile. Also, it bigs up my ego. I love you all and I hope your all having lovely times reading this fic ...

Tattie byes -

Vickie1996


	6. The Guard

**Disclaimer ... I didn't think I'd be writing one of these again, let me tell ya'. But, I do not, probably never will, own Harry Potter. All rights belong to J.K. ... Good enough for you? Splendid, moving on ..**

Long time no see ... I wasn't planning on re-picking up this story because life is just so ... busy. I'm trying to put off homework so I was just reading through some fanfictions, when - low and behold - I found this. I honestly didn't realise what it was and then my mind took off, thinking of improvements and ideas and oh so amazing plots. So, I decided to try to continue this story.

The updates will probably be sporadic, random and after long periods of times. Don't kill me! I'm a busy woman ... But yeah, I'm continuing the story ... YAY!

Any questions, death threats, flames, intimidation messages and criticism .. please review ... Only one thing left to say ...

Enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

**Fancy Changing The Future?**

Previously -

Then, the note burst into flames. Breaking the obvious tension in the room, George picked up the waiting book and exclaimed "Is everyone sitting comfortably ..." He paused, waiting for a response. When he looked at Snape he burst into laughter as the poor man was gagged, unable to even cough.

He cleared his throat and continued. "Now everyone is sitting comfortably, let us begin."

**The Advance Guard**

"Ooooh! Harry, I'm in this bit." Tonks smiled excitedly, glad to finally be a part of the story, not wanting the attention completely on Harry. He seemed to suffer intense blushing under everybody's enquiring, and often admiring, glances. Still holding his hand lightly, she marveled at the fact that it fit perfectly in her own. She felt the rough callouses from quidditch and hard work carved into his palms and fingers and shivered slightly, imagining the very same hands worshipping her body, caressing her as a lover. Harry noticed her shiver and moved closer to her, believing her to be cold rather than aroused. His body, so close to her own, didn't help Tonks. However, she revelled in the comfort it induced, strong and silent next to her.

"I'm sure you'll get to hear my first impressions," he smiled down at her cheekily, "well, maybe you should cover your ears for that bit. Don't won't an angry Auror on my hands." He winked at her glowering form, not bothered by the nails now digging into his hand.

Their brief moment of teasing wasn't noticed by anyone around them apart from the remaining Marauders. Whilst Remus was regarding the couple, curiosity burning in his eyes, Sirius was mentally cheering. Only his godson could pull an older woman so well. Both chose not to comment and listened to the excited ramblings of the people around them.

"I think I'm in this chapter, oh, I hope my hat looked presentable,"

"Thank Merlin I don't need to visit that house again, unnatural it was, I'm telling you,"

A swift bang on the table from a scarred fist jolted everyone out of their musings. Moody glared at the table and waved a hand at George. The unspoken message was clear, 'Read or welcome the pain'. He read.

**I've just been attacked by dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here.**

everyone shifted uncomfortably, the reminder of Harry's wrath still fresh in their minds. They knew they were wrong from with holding information from him, but they honestly thought it was for the best.

"Nice letter Harry, simple and to the point." It was obvious that Tonks was trying to diffuse the awkward atmosphere and she succeeded as Harry smiled at her fondly.

"Thanks Dora," he then proceeded to ruffle her short, bright purple hair. Tonks pouted and stuck her tongue out at the laughing teen. She didn't seem to notice that Harry called her Dora, either that or she didn't mind. However, everyone else did. A few more adults were looking at the pair now, seemingly oblivious to the world around them. Despite their appearance, Harry did notice their stares. He could feel them tracing their hands, entwined, to their bodies, which were facing each other comfortably. Molly was going to speak to the girl later, heaven knows he didn't need a girl leading him on at a time like this.

Ron, as always, hadn't a clue what was going on. "Er, sorry about the whole letter thing again Harry. But, you know, orders and stuff." He mumbled the last part but Harry could hear him well enough. He didn't blame Ron, not at all, he was just frustrated. He could admit this now as he was no longer being kept in the dark about events and other important information. Harry could truly relate to Ron's predicament though as he knew that in times of war, orders had to be followed. He just hoped that his friends didn't have to find out what that was like. ****

Harry copied these words on to three separate pieces of parchment the moment he reached the desk in his dark bedroom. 

"You really should out a light on Harry, writing and reading in the dark is bad for your vision." Molly tutted. She failed to notice everyone looking at her, disturbed. Subconsciously, Harry adjusted his thick glasses. A thought came to him suddenly. His glasses were a weakness.

"Erm, I hate to interrupt the story, but, I don't suppose you know any potions or spells to fix my vision do you?" Harry questioned the Headmaster. "S'just that someone could easily summon them in a duel and then I'm left blind. Also, if I trip I could lose them as well." Kingsley nodded, agreeing with his assessment.

"It is quite an obvious disadvantage. I believe there are certain spells you can cast on your glasses for that very reason. An anti-summoning charm isn't too advanced." He spoke to Harry, remembering a friend of his who cursed the Academy for not letting him in because someone broke his glasses during a duel. Whilst he was let in eventually, he searched high and low for a way to get rid of the disadvantage.

Dumbledore sighed softly to himself. Children should be worried about their looks and their grades rather than the weaknesses of impaired vision during a duel.

**He addressed the first to Sirius,**

"'Cause I'm awesome." Sirius smiled, smug. Harry tried to hide his laughter. He lent down to speak into Tonk's ear,

"Don't tell him, but he was first because he can actually read my handwriting and my head was still a bit fuzzy so my handwriting was even worse than normal." Tonks was unable to contain the snort that escaped and tried to ignore the incredulous looks being thrown her way.

**the second to Ron,**

"Whoo, second! In your face Hermione!" He then started dancing. Hermione's hair seemed to frizz in her anger and her neck was slowly becoming red. Trying to keep calm at Ron's obvious excitement, she hit him over the back of the head, rolling her eyes at his complaining.

**and the third to Hermione. His owl, Hedwig,**

"I love Hedwig, she's such a beautiful owl. She's probably been blessed by the Wiglet's, who worship the full moon's beams. Your owl must have reminded them of the moon's rays."

At the new voice which joined the fray, the Aurors (and Harry) spun round, wands blazing, unsure of who the blonde was and how she got there.

"Put your wands away please, this is just Miss Lovegood, who I doubt means any harm. I believe Serenity sent her as she may have a part to play in the book," Dumbledore explained. He wasn't certain, but he hoped that Luna and the Gryffindors became friends. He knew about how the Ravenclaw house treated her and unfortunately, he was unable to do anything about it.

Harry, still tense, nodded silently to the guest. Putting his wand away in his newly acquired wand hostler (which Tonks had slid onto his arm silently before they started reading again) he went over to the dreamy guest and held out his hand.

"Hello," he smiled, hoping she didn't take offense to being at wand point, "I'm Harry. I'm sure that Hedwig agrees with you, she's a bit arrogant." At this statement, Luna giggled and instead of taking his hand, wrapped her arms around his middle.

"I'm Luna, but people call me Looney. It's very nice to meet you Harry Potter, there are barley any nargles around you. You must be very strong-willed." She looked up to his wide eyes, looking into her own for any hint of a threat. She tilted her head to the side, her radish ear rings brushing her shoulder. "I expected you to be thinner, but you've got quite a lot of muscle haven't you." Saying this she poked Harry's stomach, which indeed did have muscle covering it. Despite Dudley's diet, he had managed to get some decent meals in and he often ran in the mornings, preparing for the inevitable fight between himself and Voldemort. He had even taken to lifting a few of Dudley's weights, hoping to be in a fit state for the war. The tournament, and before that, quidditch, helped him stay fit, so it wasn't too much trouble to stay in shape.

Despite knowing this, he still blushed at her blunt statement. "Er, thanks ... I think," Tonks, giggling to herself, pulled him back to the couch which they were lounging on. The table were all trying to hide their amusement. A few of the females though were observing him closely. Whilst he was on the thin side, he seemed lean and strong. Also, without the baggy clothes to hide him, they could clearly see the muscled biceps straining against the thin sleeves of his shirt.

"Aww, look at my pup, all grown up and dazzling the ladies." Out of no where, a pillow was thrown at Sirius before he could comment further. Choking on a mouth full of pillow, he glared at Harry, who was looking decidedly too innocent.

Snape, still gagged, rolled his eyes at the mongrel. They were all fools, taken in by the spoiled brat, simpering over him like idiots with no dignity. He was being completely ignored by the group and he hoped it would stay that way, not wishing to be part of proceedings. What use was it reading about Potter anyway. Although he heard the prophecy, he couldn't believe the spawn of James Potter could have any real influence over the war. His thoughts went unheard and George continued.

**Hedwig, was off hunting; her cage stood empty on the desk. Harry paced the bedroom waiting for her to come back, his head pounding,**

"Maybe we should get Madame Pomfrey, dear. You might have seriously injured yourself." The Weasley children (and a few adults) rolled their eyes at the mothers worrying. Nothing short of a miracle would change Mrs Weasley, even turning into a dog!

**his brain too busy for sleep even though his eyes stung and itched with tiredness.**

"Really dear, sleep's important," Molly tutted.

**His back ached from hauling Dudley home, **("Ouch") **and the two lumps on his head where the window and Dudley had hit him were throbbing painfully.**

Up and down he paced, consumed with anger and frustration, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, casting angry looks out at the empty, star-strewn sky every time he passed the window. 

"Temper, temper Harry." The twins spoke. Luna, still new and uncertain of her place in the group, decided to speak up.

"They're right Harry Potter. You shouldn't let your emotions overwhelm you. Bad things might happen." Luna looked worried for the boy whom she had never met before. Her wide eyes locked onto his with a fierce intensity which he didn't know was possible for the absent-minded Ravenclaw.

"You can just call me Harry, Luna. No need for the last name,"

"Oh, but isn't that what friends do?" Her eyes were even wider now, if that were possible.

"We are friends, or we're going to be. So you can call him Harry and I'm Tonks," Grinning now, Tonks encouraged the young girl to climb out of her shell. She understood something of what Luna was going through because when she was younger, she was isolated by her peers, who either wanted her to change her appearance constantly or feared her ability to do so. Luna, eyes suspiciously wet, nodded slightly to Tonks. Harry squeezed her hand in a silent thanks.

**Dementors sent to get him, Mrs. Figg and Mundungus Fletcher tailing him in secret, then suspension from Hogwarts and a hearing at the Ministry of Magic-and still no one was telling him what was going on.**

"Surely ya can figure that out Potter?" Moody said. Harry, still wary of the grizzled Auror, tried to explain.

"My head was in agony and I really wanted to collapse and sleep until September. I doubt I would have been able to work out how to spell my name, let alone figure out what was going on."

Moody, still not happy with his reply, ignored him and motioned to George to continue. His thoughts went to the McKinnon's, who were both too injured to come up with a good excuse to why they were in The Spider's Lounge, one of the Death Eater's common haunts. They were quickly dealt with, their bodies found a few days later, hanging in Diagon Alley.****

And what, what, had that Howler been about? Whose voice had echoed so horribly, so menacingly, through the kitchen?

"Yes, I'm wondering about that too. Do you know anybody who has blackmail on your Aunt?" Hermione looked to Harry, trying to figure out the mystery. Harry just shook his head, wanting to finish the book so he could figure out what happened to him.****

Why was he still trapped here without information? Why was everyone treating him like some naughty kid? Don't do any more magic, stay in the house...

The silence was consuming and the everyone noticed the betrayed glare that Harry was shooting Dumbledore. The headmaster sighed quietly, regretting the course of action he had decided to take. He had hoped that Harry would enjoy his remaining time as a child and forget the burden which would soon be passed onto him.

"I made a mistake Harry and for that I am sorry. But I will never regret trying to protect you." Quite a few eyebrows were raised at Dumbledore's words but Harry barely even noticed. He was trying to detect a hint of a lie, or perhaps searching for the patronising pity he had come accustomed to seeing. Unable to identify the emotion coming from the Headmaster's eyes, Harry turned his attention back to the book.****

He kicked his school trunk as he passed it, but far from relieving his anger he felt worse, as he now had a sharp pain in his toe to deal with in addition to the pain in the rest of his body.

"You know Harry, for a living legend, you sure act like an idiot." No one knew how to react to Tonk's remark and just stared at the brightly coloured woman.

"You know Dora, for an amazing Auror, you sure are clumsy." That statement influenced a wave of laughter and Tonks just crossed her arms, sulking. Harry watched as she pouted, his eyes tracing her lips, imaging what it would be like to touch them, to taste them.

Quickly, he shook his head, trying to get rid of that thought. What was he thinking? Sure, Dora was attractive and anyone would be a fool not to see it. But he was far too young for her and he doubted she would find him good-looking. She probably has a boyfriend already, either that or a long line of suitors. Sparkling gold eyes found his, questioning his brief silence. He shook his head, signaling it didn't matter. Instead of replying, Tonks silently moved closer to him, now pressed against his side, her knees resting against his, offering him her support and comfort. Her kindness knew no bounds.

**Just as he limped past the window, Hedwig soared through it with a soft rustle of wings like a small ghost**.

Just as the twins opened their mouths, Harry's piercing green eyes glared at them. A warning.

"If either of you even try to speak about Hedwig, any insults or barbs, you will seriously regret it." As he spoke, the twins shivered. Every Gryffindor knew not to get Harry angry. It was common knowledge.

"We were only going to,"

"Comment on how,"

"Lovely your owl,"

"is and her obvious beauty."

Harry was still staring, unwilling to stop without an answer. Both twins gulped and gave in.

"Okay, okay. No insults towards Hedwig." They spoke in unison, hands lifted in surrender. ****

'About time!' Harry snarled, as she landed lightly on top of her cage. 'You can put that down, I've got work for you!'

Everyone looked at Harry in surprise. From the previous display, they had thought he was possessive about his familiar and cared for her deeply. Harry felt heat travel up his face, covering his cheeks. He looked down in shame. However, Tonk's bony elbow dug into his side.

"If you even think about getting that moody with me, I'm demoting you from the rank of best friend." Harry gasped, his face a picture of mock horror.

"Oh no! Anything but, how can I survive without your wonderful presence at my side."

"Well, avoid speaking to your best friend like you just spoke to your owl." She glared at him. Message recieved - don't let his temper influence his behaviour. Continuing in jest, he dropped to his knees, his arms wrapped round her legs.

"Never could I think such a thing, let alone speak it. I would deserve to walk to hell and back before I ever would disregard our friendship in such a way. Forgive me for the sins I have not yet, nor ever will, commit." The students, and a fair few adults, were unable to hide their laughter at the surreal situation. Tonks, who looked unbelievably smug, patted Harry on the head condescendingly.

"I suppose I could forgive you, but it will cost you," she spoke, her hand now playing with a few unruly locks of Harry's hair.

"Anything for you and your friendship Dora, anything!" Tonks had to hand it to him, he was a good actor. Whilst the table was laughing, he held his own chuckles at bay and looked up at her with dark green eyes which seemed to look into her soul. His voice was deep and soft, washing over her, awakening a fire deep inside her. Many thoughts ran through her head, but she tried to settle on a decently appropriate one.

"To earn my forgiveness, you must become my slave and do what I ask. You must also call me your Lady or your Goddess. I am not fussy about which." That was too much for even the most stern adults. Moody's growling chuckles could be heard and even the Headmaster was laughing at their display. However, Tonks, whose eyes were a deep molten gold and her hair long and seemed to spun from wheat cast in moonlight, could only look at Harry. He had a slight smirk on his face and it took all of her effort to hide the blush which wanted to paint her cheeks.

"I am nothing but your lowly servant if only you will forgive me. I will do whatever my Goddess asks, I shall protect her from those whom wish her harm," tears were now rolling down many of the room's occupant's faces, clutching their stomach's from the force of their amusement. Harry spoke softly now, too softly to be heard by the others. "I shall bring her pleasure in ways that no other man can," his voice was husky now and Tonks felt an inferno envelope her, making her heart hammer wildly in her chest. Harry, almost disbelieving at what he had done, continued to stare at the beautiful woman in front of him. Where had that come from? It was completely unlike his normal behaviour, yet Dora brought out a side to him he never knew he had.

Tonks, whose blush was thankfully unnoticeable, finally spoke. "I shall forgive you Hadrian James Potter*, you may continue using the title of Tonks' Best Friend. This is an honor that I need not remind you of. You shall remain at my feet though and let me take your previous place," with that, she quickly sprawled out over the couch and made her self comfortable. The chuckles were dying down now, although the occasional one escaped. Everyone was smiling, watching as Harry leant against the couch, his head resting against Tonks' leg. Both Harry and Tonks shared a secret little smile, although Harry's was more like a smirk. George, now capable of reading, decided to start before Tonks decided to make Harry wear a chain and ball.

**Hedwig's large, round, amber eyes gazed at him reproachfully over the dead frog clamped in her beak.**

"Eww." Ginny squealed. Severus rolled his eyes at the young Weasley's behaviour. Her constant refusal to touch many of the potions ingredients had left Gryffindor with a lot less house points and the female Weasley a lot less marks.

"Don't worry Ginevra, dead frogs release magic that keep the beezle-wits at bay." Ginny flushed at the sniggers of her brothers from the use of her first name and wrinkled her nose in confusion as to what Beezle-wits actually were.

"honestly Luna, I'm sure there are no such things as Boozle-nits and dead frog magic." Hermione said, hoping to stop some of the younger girls outlandish comments. Really, she was meant to be a Ravenclaw yet Luna was shaping up to be the most illogical person Hermione had met.

"It's Beezle-Wits Hermione and just because you haven't seen them or read about them doesn't make them any less real." Tonks spoke up for her new friend now, still annoyed at the bookworm's previous behaviour toward Harry. Sensing the rise in tension, many people motioned for George to read quickly, averting an argument.****

'Come here,' said Harry, picking up the three small rolls of parchment and a leather thong 

"Oooh, kinky much Harry," Fred grinned at the now blushing teen.

"Frederick Gideon Weasley!" Mrs Weasley yelled, such language was not suitable for the children in the room.

"But Mum, I'm George, he's Fred!"

"And you call yourself our Mother." George shook his head in disappointment. Everyone stifled their giggles, hoping the Weasley matriarch wouldn't catch their amusement.

**and tying the scrolls to her scaly leg. 'Take these straight to Sirius, Ron and Hermione and don't come back here without good long replies. Keep pecking them till they've written decent-length answers if you've got to. Understand?'**

"Oi! I thought she was just being mean but it was you!" Ron cried, his hands clutching the faint lines from wear Hedwig had viciously attacked him.

"Sorry Ron, I was a bit angry about not knowing anything," Harry rubbed the back of his neck, guilt ripping through him. He felt Tonks hand replace his own, gently massaging the muscles there. He bit back a moan at the sensations she was causing him and waited for a response from Ron.

"If I forgive you, can you be my slave too?" He grinned at his friend, liking the idea of having someone to do everything for him. However, Tonks had different ideas.

"Get your own slave Weasley, this ones mine," and to emphasise the point, she pulled her tongue at Ron. Just then, a package fell down onto Tonks lap. Bouncing on the couch in excitement she opened the present. Inside was a T-shirt which was a deep shade of green. On the T-shirt, the words 'I belong to the bad ass Auror were written in gold. On the back was written 'Tonks' bitch' in bold. Giggling now she through the T-shirt at Harry.

"Put it on slave!" Harry looked at her, and then at the T-shirt. Laughing at the label, he quickly took of his shirt and pulled the other one on. In that brief moment of time where his chest was bare, the females in the room took advantage. Their eyes greedily drunk in his lean and muscled frame and Tonks noticed a litter of scars all over his body. Probably from all his adventures. The new T-shirt left little to the imagination as it fit Harry perfectly. The room, now noticing the writing, were once again unable to contain their laughter. As the Weasley twins wolf whistled, Tonks just smiled in triumph.

"Thank you Serenity," she chimed and with a swift kick to Harry, he too thanked Serenity for the wonderful gift. Although he did not like the idea of belonging to anyone, his freedom being his greatest gift, he enjoyed making people happy and of that meant wearing a shirt that proclaimed him as Dora's, then he would do it whenever they wanted. ****

Hedwig gave a muffled hooting noise, her beak still full of frog. 

Ginny wrinkled her nose again at the mention of the dead amphibian. Seeing Luna about to open her mouth and Hermione eager to prove her wrong, Ginny spoke first.

"Don't you feed your owl Harry!"

"Of course I do," Great, Ginny thought, I've just offended the only person in the room who can probably use magic. "She likes the independence of hunting though. She's no spoiled house pet, she's a fierce warrior!" Harry exclaimed. He and Hedwig had that much in common, much preferring to accomplishing things on their own rather than have someone do it for them. ****

'Get going, then,' said Harry.

She took off immediately. The moment she'd gone, Harry threw himself down on his bed without undressing and stared at the dark ceiling. In addition to every other miserable feeling, he now felt guilty that he'd been irritable with Hedwig;

"At least you feel guilty, if you didn't, you'd be a terrible person," Luna said, her fingers idly wrapping themselves into her long, blonde hair.

**she was the only friend he had at number four, Privet Drive.**

"Aww, that's so sad yet adorable." Tonks launched herself at her slave, pulling him into an embrace. From the force of her leap, they were both on the floor. Harry was on his back as Tonks stroked his head. "It's okay slave, you have me now." He heard the Weasley children snigger around him as Tonks 'comforted' him. She looked at him, waiting for a response.

"Thank you for your kind words my Lady," he bit out, uncomfortable of everyone laughing at him. "I don't know how I lived before I met you." These words just made Dora more enthusiastic in petting him, he realised. Sighing, he put his hands behind his head, getting comfortable on the floor. He would refuse to move and seeing Tonks sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, made him realise she probably wouldn't move too.

**But he'd make it up to her when she came back with the answers from Sirius, Ron and Hermione.**

The three mentioned shifted guiltily in their seats. ****

They were bound to write back quickly; they couldn't possibly ignore a Dementor attack. 

Harry stared at the ceiling but he could feel the stares of the others. Tonks' hand was stroking his hair still and the action was repetitive and soothing. He couldn't honestly bring himself to feel angry at his Godfather and friends because right now he was happy. Yeah, he was a bit annoyed with everybody reading his thoughts and being stuck in a situation where people would pity him, but he had made a new friend, he was being more trusted and he would find a way to win the war. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

**He'd probably wake up tomorrow to three fat letters full of sympathy and plans for his immediate removal to The Burrow. And with that comforting idea, sleep rolled over him, stifling all further thought.**

**But Hedwig didn't return next morning. Harry spent the day in his bedroom, leaving it only to go to the bathroom.**

"But what about food! You need to eat Harry dear. You're all skin and bones." Mrs Weasley protested. As she said this a box came parachuting from the sky, landing softly on the floor. Picking it up with caution, she read the note attached.

_Dear Everybody,_

_Hope you're all having fun. I just thought that if Tonks is going to have a slave, he needs to be healthy. So ... low and behold, potions! (Be happy, potions in the future don't taste nearly as bad as they do in your time). There i two of the,. The first one will make the body have the nutrients it was missing. So, even though Harry didn't get enough meals, it would be ,ike he had the perfect balanced diet since he was a kid. Does that make sense? Don't worry, it doesn't happen straight away - you'll wake up like you've never been starved! Wait, that sounds worse than it is. We use it on some of the prisoners or the muggle borns who escape from the Palace._

_The second potion is to fix your eye sight. Yay future knowledge! Dad has - had - the same problem as you so he got his friend to find a way to make his eye sight better. He still probably needs them for reading small writing, but he said he's able to see things farther away a lot easier. You're a seeker, right? It might help._

_So, thank me graciously whenever you feel like it,_

_Yours Sincerely, Serenity xxx_

Everybody watched as Mrs Weasley passed the two vials to Harry. He didn't like the concerned gazes of those around him. It made him feel weak and the only thing worse than being weak, was being trapped. Sighing, knowing there was no way to escape this, he sat up and removed the corks, downing one after the other. They both tasted faintly of peppermint so he didn't really have any reason to complain. Noticing the stares still, he brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose, right where a headache was forming.

"She said there would be no changes until after I've slept so will you all stop looking at me like I'm going to grow antlers?"

"It's not that Harry. It's just that your trusting Serenity really quickly. I mean, every time you get sent to the hospital wing, you always check to make sure the potion isn't poison," Hermione said. Everyone looked at Harry who flushed under their slightly bewildered stares.

"Considering how many times people have tried to kill me and who makes the potions in the infirmary, it is safe to say I'm not being out of line," at this everybody glanced to Snape, who was still chained and gagged. They'd forgot he was there for a while.

**Three times that day Aunt Petunia shoved food into his room through the cat-flap Uncle Vernon had installed three summers ago.**

"Was that,"

"When we,"

"Daringly rescued you,"

"From your wicked relatives?"

Harry nodded, falling back to the ground. The carpet was quite comfortable and he felt his eyelids dropping as a hand returned to playing with tendrils of dark hair. Without realising, he fell into a fairly peaceful sleep, no dreams or nightmares consuming him.

Tonks, noticing the sudden even breathing of her friend looked down at him.

"He's asleep."

"I believe it is a side-effect of the potions. His body has a lot of work to do," Dumbledore explained, watching his pupil, who, even in sleep, seem guarded and tense. His brow was furrowed and his jaw locked. Sirius, seeing the predicament, went to pick him up and put him down in their room. However, he felt Remus put a hand on his shoulder and watched as he pulled his Pup into his arms and carried him from the room. When he sat back down, they continued reading.

**Every time Harry heard her approaching he tried to question her about the Howler, but he might as well have interrogated the doorknob for all the answers he got. Otherwise, the Dursleys kept well clear of his bedroom. Harry couldn't see the point of forcing his company on them; another row would achieve nothing except perhaps make him so angry he'd perform more illegal magic.**

"Has anyone else noticed Harry's temper is getting worse. It's not so bad now were in this room, but before, I was honestly scared of him." Hermione questioned, her voice soft and trembling over the last words.

"All teenagers get a little more stubborn and angry dear, its just a part of growing up." Molly spoke softly, not wanting to believe that her little boy ... that Harry had something wrong with him.

"I think Hermione might be onto something. Harry usually is so even tempered and usually quite timid unless aggravated. In fact, he doesn't have many friends outside Ron and Hermione. This temper of his isn't normal," Remus noted, worried for his Cub. Although he was no longer as close to Harry as he had been as a child, he had been his Professor for a while and did not like to see someone with so much potential and so much compassion, hurting.

"He did see Moldyshorts return and he had to watch a friend die. That changes a person." Tonks said. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, worrying about Harry. Even though they hadn't known each other long, she liked to think he too felt a connection between them. Their personalities suited each other and they seemed to support each other without being pushy or patronising. The room had gone quiet, thinking about their hero who was resting in a room not too far away. She sighed and focused on what was being said.****

So it went on for three whole days. Harry was alternately filled with restless energy that made him unable to settle to anything, during which time he paced his bedroom, furious at the whole lot of them for leaving him to stew in this mess, and with a lethargy so complete that he could lie on his bed for an hour at a time, staring dazedly into space, aching with dread at the thought of the Ministry hearing.

"Whilst were in a timeless room, we could start to prepare for the trial. We'll soon know how its going to go so we could use that to our advantage." Hestia spoke softly, afraid to break the almost silent atmosphere.****

What if they ruled against him? 

"But they can't!" Hermione cried, "If they actually follow the laws they're meant to enforce, he's well within his right to use magic. Hogwarts won't be the same without Harry," she trailed off, looking into her lap to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Hey! Even if they chucked him out, you and Harry would figure out a way to get him there. And if not, I'll teach him all he needs to know. Promise!" Tonks said, not comfortable with people being unhappy. She preferred happy environments like clubs, bars and anywhere with smiling people.

"I never took you for a teacher," Moody grunted, struggling to imagine his protegé teaching a class of youngsters. All he could imagine was her being laughed at by the students for her crazy coloured hair.

Tonks, however, seemed excited at the prospect. "That was my second option if I never got into the Academy. Wouldn't mind teaching transfiguration, but I think Minnie's got that sorted. I suppose there's DADA but everyone says that only a fool would teach whilst the curse was in place." She stopped suddenly, realising everyone was watching her.

"Er ... why are you all looking at me?"

"I assume it's because we never would have guessed you'd want to be a teacher. Hogwarts teachers don't usually look ... well, they don't look like ..." Molly trailed off, unsure how to continue the sentence. Her sons, however, took the responsibility onto themselves.

"What our dear Mother is trying to say,"

"Is that Hogwarts teachers are either,"

"Old,"

"Mean,"

"Boring,"

"Frauds," A faint 'Lockhart' was coughed from across the room.

"Death Eaters,"

"Or just possessed by Voldemort." They finished together.

"You do not fit into any of the previous categories, you'd be a young, nice, fun, talented, teacher who is not possessed by any evil spirits. therefore, you cannot be a Hogwarts teacher!" Ginny said, attempting to hide her smile.

"What 'bout me!" Hagrid boomed. The students turned to him and looked him over.

"You're one of a kind Hagrid and you're the best Care of Magical Creatures Professor we've ever had." All the children chimed together. The adults were worried now because when six children all spoke at once, it was quite creepy. Nevertheless, Hagrid was smiling and beneath his massive beard, a blush worked its way onto his cheeks.

**What if he was expelled and his wand was snapped in half? What would he do, where would he go?**

"We've already agreed he's living with me," Sirius proclaimed, his arms crossed, unwilling to forgive himself for not being there for his Godson when he needed him.

**He could not return to living full-time with the Dursleys, not now he knew the other world, the one to which he really belonged...**

"Many Muggleborns are the same, finding it harder and harder to adjust to a muggle environment after experiencing magic." Dumbledore stated, still undecided whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

**Might he be able to move into Sirius's house, as Sirius had suggested a year ago, before he had been forced to flee from the Ministry? Would Harry be allowed to live there alone, given that he was still underage?**

"Why would he be alone?" Ron spoke.

"He still thinks Sirius is on the run with a Hippogriff called Buckbeak." Hermione said slowly, as if talking to an idiot. Ron huffed and a flush crawled up his cheeks in embarrassment.

"I forgot," he spoke softly, not really wanting to argue because Harry was asleep and it seemed he didn't get enough all ready.

**Or would the matter of where he went next be decided for him? Had his breach of the International Statute of Secrecy been severe enough to land him in a cell in Azkaban?**

"This is why we don't usually allow Harry to stew with his thoughts. They become progressively more and more outrageous." Hermione answered the silent question in all the adults minds.

**Whenever this thought occurred, Harry invariably slid off his bed and began pacing again**.

**On the fourth night after Hedwig's departure Harry was lying in one of his apathetic phases, staring at the ceiling, his exhausted mind quite blank, when his uncle entered his bedroom. Harry looked slowly around at him. Uncle Vernon was wearing his best suit and an expression of enormous smugness.**

"Urgh, I don't want to know. Any expression on that lard's face is enough to knock anyone sick." ****

'We're going out,' he said.

'Sorry?'

'We-that is to say, your aunt, Dudley and I-are going out.'

'Fine,' said Harry dully, looking back at the ceiling.

"Aw, come on Harry. Where's that stubborn boy who refused to let us kill Pettigrew!" Sirius asked the book, his voice intentionally light, despite the dark words.

"After being left with no contact, barely any food and no information, I'd give up fighting useless fights too." Tonks pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms round them silently. She missed Harry. He'd only been gone for a few minutes, yet she still missed his silent support and his warm body beside her, giving her whatever strength she needed.****

'You are not to leave your bedroom while we are away.'

'OK.'

"We'd use this as an oppurtunity to prank everybody!" The twins cried in joy. "If Harry's going to become our protege, then we really need to work on using moments like these to his advantage." Mrs Weasley thought it best to ignore these types of comments and just hope that the twins didn't drag poor Harry into any trouble. It seemed that she was also ignoring the fact that trouble often finds Harry.****

'You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any of our possessions.'

'Right.'

"I hate it when all the fights gone from Harry, he's not witty anymore," Ginny complained, no longer eager to listen to this conversation if the Dursleys weren't getting insulted. ****

'You are not to steal food from the fridge.'

'OK.'

"It's not stealing if its from your own house!" Tonks roared, aware of the shocked looks she was getting. "It's not fair! What did Harry do to deserve this treatment, he's the nicest person I've ever met." A tear trailed down her cheek, glinting gold in the light. No one knew what to say to console the young Auror, so they left her to the comfort of her own mind. ****

'I am going to lock your door.'

'You do that.'

"Arghh! I swear if I ever meet Dursley, I'm going to take that stick that's shoved up his arse and beat him bloody with it! Next I'll kick his balls so hard they end up in his throat, then I'll tie them around his neck and choke him with them. After that, I'll bring him back to life just so I can hunt him down, disarticulate all his limbs, then feed them to small, ugly dogs. Then the dogs will throw him back up because he tastes like shit and I'll make his ghost clean up the fucking mess! Anything that remains of him I'll burn in celebratory fire and invite the death eaters to spit on it until it goes out. " Tonks was breathing heavily, her hair a raging red. During her rant, she never noticed the people around her moving away silently, their eyes wide with fear.

"I think its safe to say Mr Dursley will never be meeting you," Dumbledore spoke, eyeing the young woman cautiously. Moody just looked at the girl with a grin on his face, which in itself is terrifying. ****

Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, clearly suspicious of this lack of argument, then stomped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Harry heard the key turn in the lock

"Isn't that a fire hazard? Or what if people came to kidnap him or kill him?" Hermione exclaimed, her voice becoming shriller with each word.

"I do not remember Harry's door being locked. In fact, Harry came down stairs to meet us when we picked him up," Kingsley said, his deep calm voice over powering Hermione's whimpers. They all shared curious looks before reading once again, eager to read about the future and not the past.

**and Uncle Vernon's footsteps walking heavily **("Heavy alright") **down the stairs. A few minutes later he heard the slamming of car doors, the rumble of an engine, and the unmistakeable sound of the car sweeping out of the drive.**

Harry had no particular feeling about the Dursleys leaving. It made no difference to him whether they were in the house or not. He could not even summon the energy to get up and turn on his bedroom light. The room grew steadily darker around him as he lay listening to the night sounds through the window he kept open all the time, waiting for the blessed moment when Hedwig returned.

"Oh Ron! We're such horrible friends," Hermione cried, hugging Ron tightly, needed some semblance of comfort.

"Hey, its alright, Harry forgives us, he knows that we had to keep him in the dark 'Mione. We're not that bad," he said, trying to stop the flow of tears that ran down her face. ****

The empty house creaked around him. The pipes gurgled. Harry lay there in a kind of stupor, thinking of nothing, suspended in misery.

Then, quite distinctly, he heard a crash in the kitchen below.

Even though the room knew who the intruders were, it did not stop them from stiffening and leaning closer to the book, wanting to hear Harry's fate. ****

He sat bolt upright, listening intently.

"Good instincts, that lad. He'll make one heck of an Auror." Moody said, proud of the boy he had only just come to know.

"Oh, Alastor. I'd wish you'd stop putting dangerous ideas into the boys head. He shouldn't be running about catching dark wizards. He should work at a nice desk in the Ministry." Molly said, daring Moody to argue with her. She was not expecting everyone around her to snort in disbelief at her suggestion.

"Molly, I don't believe Harry's capable of sitting still long enough to actually have a desk job." Arthur said, trying to placate his wife.

"I just don't think that such a sweet boy should be pressured into ..."

"You even breathe that thought, I'll choke you until your eyes pop right out of their sockets, then plop them into your open, gasping mouth where you'll swallow them whole. And choke to death on your own eyeballs." Tonks said, still unbelievably angry. Everyone was watching, completely shocked. Where was this violence coming from? Moody had never seen the metamorphmagus so angry before but he knew that she could be deadly. Hell, he'd seen her take out a whole army of death eaters in the stimulation exercises at the Academy.

"No one is pressuring Harry to do anything. I've only known him for a while yet I know that even before knowing about magic, he wanted to be the muggle version of an Auror or work in the muggle military. He wants to help people Molly and you're smothering him. He's not a child, he can make his own decisions!" Tonks had never felt so strongly about anything before. She just knew that Harry had been dealt an unfair hand in life. First his parents dying, then having to live with the Dursleys and not knowing his heritage, then battling his parents murderer however many times until he watched said murderers rebirth over his freind's dead body. She'd do whatever it took to make Harry happy, even if it meant making a few people unhappy along the way. That, and Molly annoyed the living hell out of her. Harry may not be a man, but he couldn't be labeled a child. Not after what he'd been through, what he'd seen.

George looked down at the book, wondering whether to continue or let his mum get the stuffing pulled from her by Tonks. Watching his mum, he could see clear shock and underneath that, a small dash of acceptance. Perhaps she just needed a very angry shape-changer to make her see that she didn't always know best. He noticed that Sirius was about to join in Molly!Bashing and thought that his Mother needed a break. So, he continued.

**The Dursleys couldn't be back, it was much too soon, and in any case he hadn't heard their car.**

**There was silence for a few seconds, then voices.**

**Burglars, he thought, sliding off the bed on to his feet-but a split second later it occurred to him that burglars would keep their voices down, and whoever was moving around in the kitchen was certainly not troubling to do so.**

"What he lacks in academics, he makes up for in common sense and street smarts," Remus said, proud of his Cub.****

He snatched up his wand from the bedside table and stood facing his bedroom door, listening with all his might. Next moment, he jumped as the lock gave a loud click and his door swung open.

"You don't think ..." Kingsley trailed off, looking at the Headmaster for some form of conformation.

"It shouldn't be possible, merely a myth. But it does seem like ..."

"Let's face it, if anybody is going to be able to, the boy is the most likely." Moody said, joining the other two in their considerably ambiguous conversation.

"Anybody wanna tell us whats going on?" Sirius asked, not liking being left out of the loop. Especially if it concerns his Godson. surprisingly, it wasn't Dumbledore, Kingsley or Moody who answered. It was Hermione.

"I think they're wondering if Harry's capable of Wandless magic. The display shows evidence towards that theory, also the lumos charm previously also approves of this theory too."

The Headmaster looked at the young witch in surprise. Once again he had underestimated the ability of todays youth. Knocked out of his daydream of young witches and wizards ruling the country (and probably doing a better job than Fudge), he only just heard Sirius' reply.

"But I thought that's a myth. I mean, a fairytale from the days of old, before wands were invented." Sirius queried, unsure of whether they were serious or just speculating.

"Accidental magic cannot be the cause for most of the events as that is completely random and doesn't manifest in useful situations. However, as he gets older, Harry's own mind, his subconscious if you will, recognised that he could use all this extra magic, which is bubbling away inside of him whenever angry or stressed, into something useful. When the dementors came, it allowed him to find his wand, when speaking to the Dursleys it shot sparks which intimidated them into not physically hurting him. It's just a theory of course, and he may grow out of it in time, but quite of the evidence points to the suggestion that Harry indeed has some influence over magic without a wand." Tonks looked at Dumbledore and realised he was completely serious. She pondered silently at this.

"A bit like metamorphmagus' then. I mean, its all instinct and will, you don't use a wand to channel it." She asked, her head tilted at an angle, her hair now a Ravenclaw blue.

"It is quite alike that, I imagine. I would not be surprised if Harry has some ability to change his appearance, although not to the extent you can, Nymphadora." the Headmaster said, his inner scholar wondering about the limitations on his theory.  
**  
Harry stood motionless, staring through the open doorway at the dark upstairs landing, straining his ears for further sounds, but none came.**

"It was like he was born for the job," Moody proclaimed, excited at the prospect of a new trainee. Start 'em young, he thought, especially with the war.

**He hesitated for a moment, then moved swiftly and silently out of his room to the head of the stairs.**

"I'll admit, I didn't hear him or notice him until Mad-Eye spoke," Hestia said, blushing.

"I was the same," said Emmeline. Elphias, Strugis and Dedalus all agreed.****

His heart shot upwards into his throat. There were people standing in the shadowy hall below, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door; eight or nine of them, all, as far as he could see.

'Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out,' said a low, growling voice.

Tonks, calmer now, was excited that she was now included in these books. However, she was slightly disappointed that Harry wasn't here with her to tease her about it. Despite this, she would not let her anger over take her again.

"Oooh! I can guess who this is. Mad-Eye, you're in the book!" Tonks said enthusiastically, bouncing up and down hyperactively. She caught a few people casting her wary glances, most probably because of the mood change from before. She decided to ignore this and focused on the book. ****

Harry's heart was thumping uncontrollably. He knew that voice, but he did not lower his wand.

"Aye, good lad. Don't know if I'm an imposter yet." Moody growled. When everyone got comfortable once again he decided to take his chance, after all, it had been a while since he had said -

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Tonks shot into the air, her wand out, her legs moving her instinctively into a fighting stance. Kingsley also had his wand out but was still sat down.

"Blimey Mad-Eye, if you wanna give a gal' a heart attack, carry on. You're doing a pretty good job of it" Tonks huffed, the sarcastic response dropping of her lips.

"You seem a bit jumpy. At least you'll be ready." Moody nodded to her in approval. Oh Merlin, Tonks thought, I'm becoming worse than Mad-Eye.****

'Professor Moody?' he said uncertainly.

'I don't know so much about "Professor",' growled the voice, 'never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly.'

"I don't suppose it would make much difference because if he really was an imposter he would have taken Harry's form rather than stay hidden in the shadows." Luna debated. Whilst she had stayed silent for the better half of the chapter, her hair seemed to have knotted and found itself twisted and braided haphazardly onto the top of her head.

No one mentioned Luna's unique hair style, but Moody did manage to nod towards the strange girl, accepting her point. ****

Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his grip on it, nor did he move.

"The poor child, he'll end up as bad as you someday Alastor," Molly sighed, wary of her 'sons' future.

"Nothing wrong with being suspicious, never know who's out to get you."

"But Harry does. You-know-who, his Death Eaters, the Ministry, the Slytherins, the rival houses Quidditch teams, the Dursleys ..."

"Ronald, please don't tell me there's more." Mrs Weasley begged, her face ashen.

"Of course not. Maybe a few Acromantula ... well, a lot of them. Oh, and Professor Snape. That's about it." Ron finished, unaware of the slack jaws around him.

"Acromantula! When have you ever come across any Acromantula!" Mrs Weasley shrieked. Ron looked up, his face suddenly showing every bit of worry he should of felt moments ago.

"Erm ... its a long story. I'll get Harry to tell it to you when he wakes up,"

"Ronald Billius Weasley!"

"Maybe we should get on with the books Molly, we wouldn't want Harry to wake up and find out were not even finished this chapter." Arthur suggested, persuading his wife to forget about what Ron had just said. George seemed to take that as a prod and continued.

**He had very good reason to be suspicious. He had recently spent nine months in what he had thought was Mad-Eye Moody's company only to find out that it wasn't Moody at all, but an impostor; an impostor, moreover, who had tried to kill Harry before being unmasked.**

"I'm surprised at how well Harry acts around you then, considering. If I had to look at the guy who tried to kill me, I'd constantly be on edge!" Bill said.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look, one that was quite a common occurence when it came to Harry. "Hate to break it to you Bill, but Harry's always on edge. He's always last to sleep in the dorms and is usually the first up. He has to sit with the doorway in sight, usually close to it, for a quick escape. He'll never leave his back open, so he sits sideways, with either Ron on one side of him and me opposite him, so he just looks social rather than ... well, edgy." As Ron trailed off, he sighed quietly to himself. He didn't want them smothering Harry more than they already were. He was just worried about his friend.

**But before he could make a decision of what to do next, a second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs.**

"Let me guess, let me guess!" Sirius was now bouncing up and down, eerily similar to Tonks previous excitement. No one responded to his pleas so he just answered instead.

"It's the one, the only, the bookworm of the Marauders ... Moony!" Fred and George fell off their chairs and bowed at their ex-professors feet.

"We are not worthy, we are not worthy," they were bowing now, making the werewolf blush. Running a hand through his greying hair, he laughed to himself.

"Planning to read anytime soon George?" Fixing themselves once again, but unable to stop the looks of awe on their faces, they seated themselves, reading once again.****

'It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away.'

Harry's heart leapt. He knew that voice, too, though he hadn't heard it for over a year.

"He was upset that you never wrote or kept in contact." Hermione offered, knowing that Harry would probably rant at her for this, yet ignoring the fact because all she wanted was him happy.

"I was busy trying to find employment and trying to find the rat." He said. Of course, what he wouldn't admit was that he was worried that Harry wouldn't want anything to do with him after him turning into a werewolf and trying to kill him and his friends. Hermione just shook her head, not willing to accept the poor excuse. ****

'P-Professor Lupin?' he said disbelievingly. 'Is that you?'

'Why are we all standing in the dark?' said a third voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman's. 'Lumos.'

"Whooo! I'm in the book, I'm in the book," Tonks was now dancing to the music Serenity had provided, her hair flashing different colours as if it were lights in a club. ****

A wand-tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical light. Harry blinked. The people below were crowded around the foot of the stairs, gazing up at him intently, some craning their heads for a better look.

"Maybe we shouldn't have sent so many," Dumbledore said, amused at the behaviour of some of the Order Members.

"Can never have too many," Moody repeated what he had said later that night.

"Unless it raises suspicions as to why you're travelling in a big group." Luna stated, her voice for once logical and reasonable, not a hint of the dreaminess she seemed to enjoy. Mad-Eye decided to ignore the girl, who constantly seemed to be correcting him.****

Remus Lupin stood nearest to him. Though still quite young, Lupin looked tired and rather ill; he had more grey hairs

"Someone's getting ooollllddd," Sirius sang. Remus' face was blank.

"You're the same age as me, if I get old, you do to."

"Yeah, but I have Azkaban to blame for that," Sirius said, completely firm in his belief that he would have looked as fabulous as he had before if it weren't for that damned island.

"Yeah, but I'm a werewolf." Remus dead panned. A few people chuckled, knowing that Remus had won the argument.

**than when Harry had last said good-bye to him and his robes were more patched and shabbier than ever.**

"You know, I have lots of Black money which needs to be spent. My Mother would have a heart attack if she figured out a werewolf was wearing her money." Sirius grinned at his final remaining Marauder. Remus just shook his head, smiling at his 'brother'. He gave no answer, knowing thar Sirius would pester him later.

**Nevertheless, he was smiling broadly at Harry, who tried to smile back despite his state of shock**.

"A bit of warning would probably have been wise. For all you knew, Harry could have been firing spells at you before you even entered the property!" Ginny said. Although they hardly spoke, she knew Harry from years of watching him. Despite getting over her crush, she still often observed him because he was just intriguing. His behaviour reminded her of adults. What was stranger was that Harry and Severus Snape acted quite alike. They would both, quite subtly, sniff their drink before sampling it and would not swallow immediately unless they were sure it wasn't poisoned. So far, it never was.

She had also noticed that Harry hated being surprised. Like in duelling club, she had sneaked in to watch them duel, hoping for some defense about this monster which seemed far too familiar to her. She watched as Malfoy summoned the snake, she watched Harry's eyes widen, his hand clench over the wand and his legs sliding into a more comfortable position to deal with the threat. Even back then, Harry had been a natural fighter, a warrior. However, it made her heart ache for the boy, because that's what he was, a boy who had seen and heard far to much to ever be put at ease. Still lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed George continuing reading. ****

'Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would,' said the witch who was holding her lit wand aloft. She looked the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet. 'Wotcher, Harry!'

"At least its not insulting," Ron said, knowing how Harry was likely to describe people in the bluntest way possible, just their distinguishing features to pick them apart in a crowd.

Tonks hummed. "I like it, it could have been a lot worse." She stopped. "You don't think I'm too pale do you?" She questioning, holding her arm out in front of her and concentrating until it started to tan, awaiting no response. Once she was happy with her tan, she focused her hair on becoming a dark, rich brown with 'natural' highlights of blonde and red. ****

'Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus,' said a bald black wizard standing furthest back; he had a deep, slow voice and wore a single gold hoop in his ear. 'He looks exactly like James.'

"James was taller though. Actually, so was Lily. I was surprised at how short Harry actually is, but now I know I have Dursleys to blame for that," Sirius' eyes narrowed, his voice becoming cold.****

'Except the eyes,' said a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired wizard at the back. 'Lily's eyes.'

Tonks sighed thinking about those deep green eyes, always intense and showing some form of emotion. You could look into them all day and never get bored as they were constantly changing, like a fire, the embers dancing among the emeralds. Unknowingly, her own eyes had changed into the same colour and Remus watched, amused. He doubted anything would come from the attraction the two felt, but it was sweet to watch.****

Mad-Eye Moody, who had long grizzled grey hair and a large chunk missing from his nose, 

"Damn Rosier, taking my good looks with him to the grave," Moody growled. A few people blinked in surprise at the rare joke escaping the aged Auror's lips.

"Couldn't they heal it?" Tonks asked, curious why her mentor would refuse treatment.

"They probably could have but I want to be reminded of my accomplishments, my weaknesses, my fears and my strengths. It's all in the scars."

"Harry's the same," Hagrid said, surprising them all with this knowledge. "He got hurt first year with Quirrel, a piece of glass or some it cut right into his back. He asked Madame Pomfrey not to put any Murlapp on it. Also, when he got back from You-Know-Who's ritual, he had a massive cut from the crook of his elbow to his wrist. He kept that one as well. I think he mentioned one from the basilik, on his shoulder, and one from the acromantula in the maze on his leg. He has loads of 'em, but he says each one helps him remember what's important."

Dumbledore agreed whole heartedly. Why, he had a scar that looked like the London Underground on his knee. It was awfully useful for getting around ... well, in London anyway.

**was squinting suspiciously at Harry through his mismatched eyes. One eye was small, dark and beady, the other large, round and electric blue-the magical eye that could see through walls, doors, and the back of Moody's own head.**

"I'm curious, where did you even get the eye?" The twins asked, pranking opportunities running through their brains.

"Someone made it for me, a thank you." He gave no more information after that and the twins were left slightly disappointed. Oh well, they'd figure something out. ****

'Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin?' he growled. 'It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?'

"A Ministry restricted potion, oh yeah, I'm sure my pockets are exploding with the stuff," Tonks muttered to herself. ****

'Harry, what form does your Patronus take?' Lupin asked.

'A stag,' said Harry nervously.

"What's the usual age to successfully cast a patronus?" Hermione asked, aware that Harry seemed to defy many rules of magic.

"There is no set age limit. However, you need a significant amount of power to cast one with a dementor near and enough happy memories to fuel them. If anything, it would've been the happy memory part that would have stopped Harry, if anything." Bill said. He was upset that Harry had to grow up in such an environment where he and his siblings all had plentiful love and support, even if they didn't always have enough money.

Hermione nodded, biting her lip. She knew she was a great witch and she excelled in magic. However, that was due to continuous practice and determination. She was unsure if she would be able to cast the charm successfully. She's have to ask Harry how to do it eventually. ****

'That's him, Mad-Eye,' said Lupin.

Very conscious of everybody still staring at him, Harry descended the stairs, stowing his wand in the back pocket of his jeans as he came.

"Ah, the lecture. You should really write a book on it Mad-Eye, interesting title - Man Who Lost Buttock, elementary Wand Safety - you'd make a killing, " Tonk was becoming bored, where was his juicy thoughts about how he thought her beautiful/ugly? She didn't know what she wanted him think, she didn't know what she could handle. ****

'Don't put your wand there, boy!' roared Moody. 'What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!'

'Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?' the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly.

"I must've asked over a 100 times and you've still never told me!" Tonks said, eager to hear the story. He ignored her, wanting the chapter to end. The future was only a few chapters away. ****

'Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!' growled Mad-Eye. 'Elementary wand-safety, nobody bothers about it any more.' He stumped off towards the kitchen. 'And I saw that,' he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.

"You see everything, it's not going to stop me from doing it." Tonks said, poking her tongue out at the retired Auror. ****

Lupin held out his hand and shook Harry's.

'How are you?' he asked, looking closely at Harry.

"He's depressed, angry, frustrated, probably suffering from some form of concussion and he's very, very confused." Luna said.

"Thank you Luna, but I've been hearing his thoughts for the last few chapters, so I have an inkling into what he was actually feelings," Remus smiled reassuringly at the young girl, who beamed back at him. ****

'F-fine...'

Harry could hardly believe this was real. Four weeks with nothing, not the tiniest hint of a plan to remove him from Privet Drive, and suddenly a whole bunch of wizards was standing matter-of-factly in the house as though this was a long-standing arrangement. He glanced at the people surrounding Lupin; they were still gazing avidly at him. He felt very conscious of the fact that he had not combed his hair for four days.

"I doubt it would have made much difference, the Potter Curse - untamable hair and a thing for red heads. I'm not at all surprised he's friends with a whole family of them," Sirius said, grinning at said family. The twins started mock sobbing, muttering about how he only liked them for their hair. Everyone ignored them.****

'I'm-you're really lucky the Dursleys are out...' he mumbled.

'Lucky, ha!' said the violet-haired woman. 'It was me who lured them out of the way. Sent a letter by Muggle post telling them they'd been short-listed for the All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. They're heading off to the prize-giving right now... Or they think they are.'

"Tonksy!" Fred said, getting up and sitting beside her.

"How would you like to become ..."

"Someone everyone envies ..."

"Who people que to see ..."

"Who get pulled by their ears into detention ..."

"Forget the last one, were being persuasive here ..."

"How would you like to become a Prankster ..."

"That's with a capital P! Weasley Wizard Wheezes ..."

"Is offering those with potential ..."

"To help us prank thousands ..."

"If not millions ..."

"Think about it, it'd be fun!" They, once again, finished in unison.

The group groaned, thinking of all the trouble they could get into. ****

Harry had a fleeting vision of Uncle Vernon's face when he realised there was no All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition.

everyone laughed at the thought. "Oh, if only we had a camera." Sirius said, acting wiping a tear from his eye.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You would actually stand in front of Vernon Dursley to get a photograph?"

"Oh, your right. The camera would probably break," This started another new wave of laughter. ****

'We are leaving, aren't we?' he asked. 'Soon?'

'Almost at once,' said Lupin, 'we're just waiting for the all-clear.'

'Where are we going? The Burrow?' Harry asked hopefully.

Molly and the Weasley's sighed sadly. The Burrow was home and they missed it dreadfully. Those still at Hogwarts only stayed a night or two till they were whisked away to the dark, damp and depressing walls of Number 12 Grimauld Place. ****

'Not The Burrow, no,' said Lupin, motioning Harry towards the kitchen; the little knot of wizards followed, all still eyeing Harry curiously. 'Too risky. We've set up Headquarters somewhere un-detectable. It's taken a while...'

Quite a few people snorted around the room. That was an understatment if they'd ever heard one. ****

Mad-Eye Moody was now sitting at the kitchen table swigging from a hip flask, his magical eye spinning in all directions, taking in the Dursleys' many labour-saving appliances.

'This is Alastor Moody, Harry,' Lupin continued, pointing towards Moody.

'Yeah, I know,' said Harry uncomfortably. It felt odd to be introduced to somebody he'd thought he'd known for a year.

'And this is Nymphadora-'

"Ow ... I'm only reading what it said in the book, no need for violence Nymphy!" George exclaimed. However, the grin soon wiped of his face as he watched Tonks hair change into a fiery red and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Taking his chance, he got up and sprinted to the door of his and Fred's bedroom. Unfortunately, he was too late.

"Someone save me!" Tonks now had him, her arm around his neck, holding him in place, whilst her other hand made a fist, rubbing his head ... hard.

"I give in! Merlin's saggy balls, you aren't half violent."

"Frederick Gideon Weasley!"

"Mum, I'm George, he'd Fred. Sorry for any confusion." He was once again smiling until he noticed the same expression as Tonks' on his mother's face.

"Take my twin, I'm too pretty to die!" He yelled, trying to disengage his mother's hand from his ear.

"Oy! I'm far more handsome, so I can't give myself up,"

"Please I'm far more dashing, see this freckle. Girls go mad for this freckle!"

Kingsley, whilst amused, was tired, so he picked up the book and carried on where George left off.****

'Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus,' said the young witch with a shudder, 'it's Tonks.'

'Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only,' finished Lupin.

'So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,' muttered Tonks.

"What was she thinking," Tonks and Sirius said. You could tell her mother was a true Black based on her penchant for naming things with either really difficult, long and stupid names, or after ancestors. apparently, Tonks looked like a little nymph when she had turned her hair the same colour as her mother's eyes when she first opened her own. Ever since she could remember, she promised that her child would have a normal name, even if she had to go behind her husbands back to sign the birth certificate.****

'And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt'-he indicated the tall black wizard, who bowed-'Elphias Doge'-the wheezy-voiced wizard nodded-'Dedalus Diggle-'

'We've met before,' squeaked the excitable Diggle, dropping his violet-coloured top hat.

The person in question blushed under the amused stares. His hat was resting in his lap, fraying slightly around the edges. He liked the thing since he had read an old muggle book a long time ago. The Mad Hatter had always interested him and it was with his first pay check after getting his first job that he bought his purple hat, only brought out for special occasions.****

'-Emmeline Vance'-a stately-looking witch in an emerald green shawl inclined her head-'Sturgis Podmore'-a square-jawed wizard with thick straw-coloured hair winked-'and Hestia Jones.' A pink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved from next to the toaster.

Harry inclined his head awkwardly at each of them as they were introduced. He wished they would look at something other than him; it was as though he had suddenly been ushered on-stage. He also wondered why so many of them were there.

"He can be a little slow at times," Charlie said, noticing that Harry seemed to be either super observant or completely oblivious.

"When it comes to his fame, he chooses to ignore. If he does, he hopes everyone else will too." Hermione explained.

"He's mental if you ask me," Ron muttered.****

'A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you,' said Lupin, as though he had read Harry's mind; the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"I'm sure he'll thank you for that later." Sirius chuckled, imaging his Godson getting revenge in a true Marauder fashion.****

'Yeah, well, the more the better,' said Moody darkly. 'We're your guard, Potter.'

'We're just waiting for the signal to tell us it's safe to set off,' said Lupin, glancing out of the kitchen window. 'We've got about fifteen minutes.'

'Very clean, aren't they, these Muggles?' said the witch called Tonks, who was looking around the kitchen with great interest. 'My dad's Muggle-born and he's a right old slob. I suppose it varies, just as it does with wizards?'

"You're really good at breaking the tension aren't you Tonks?"

"Of course I am Ginny. If I didn't do it, everyone would think they're about to die with Mad-Eye in charge."

"You need to be more serious, its not a game." Moody felt like he needed to stress this point. If she wanted to survive this war, she'd have best start taking things a little more seriously.

Tonks just rolled her eyes at her mentor, her thoughts drifting back to the boy who was slumbering a few doors away. ****

'Er-yeah,' said Harry. 'Look'-he turned back to Lupin-'what's going on, I haven't heard anything from anyone, what's Vol-?'

"It was a tad bit stupid of him, but if I was in the situation I wouldn't have remained calm for introductions. I'd have been firing of questions until you'd have burst!" Ginny felt sorry for Harry. He wasn't even here to watch them invade his thoughts. ****

Several of the witches and wizards made odd hissing noises; Dedalus Diggle dropped his hat again, and Moody growled, 'Shut up!'

'What?' said Harry.

'We're not discussing anything here, it's too risky,' said Moody, turning his normal eye on Harry. His magical eye remained focused on the ceiling. 'Damn it,' he added angrily, putting a hand up to the magical eye, 'it keeps getting stuck-ever since that scum wore it-'

"Oh, that's gross!" Ginny's nose was once again wrinkled delicately. Give her a broom and she fly with the rest of them, give her a gnome she could chuck it as far as the rest. But some things were just far too disgusting that not even having 6 brothers would help her get over it.

"Ey Missy, I'd like to see you try cleaning it everyday!"

"I'd rather not," she replied, looking slightly green, a colour which clashed tremendously with her hair. ****

And with a nasty squelching sound much like a plunger being pulled from a sink, he popped out his eye.

Everyone was now looking slightly ill and those who were there felt the memory come back. ****

'Mad-Eye, you do know that's disgusting, don't you?' said Tonks conversationally.

"Conversationally? I don't even want to know what else you talk about," Ron said.

"Well, once we had a conversation which lasted about 2 hours. It was all about why you should always carry an engagement ring with you. We came up with some pretty good reasons too." Saying this, she fished out a simple silver band with a sapphire placed in the middle. Simple, cheap and surprisingly useful. ****

'Get me a glass of water, would you, Harry,' requested Moody.

"Tut, he's not your servant Alastor," Mrs Weasley sighed.

"May as well make the boy useful, he looked uncomfortable with you lot gawking at him like idiots."

The mentioned few were turning red.****

Harry crossed to the dishwasher, took out a clean glass and filled it with water at the sink, still watched eagerly by the band of wizards. Their relentless staring was starting to annoy him.

"Quick, retreat! Get out, save your selves!" Fred and George screamed.

"If Harry's annoyed, it means you have to pursue the conversation carefully unless you want him to blow up on you,"

"It's really not as amusing as it sounds." Both the twins shuddered, holding onto one another in comfort.****

'Cheers,' said Moody, when Harry handed him the glass. He dropped the magical eyeball into the water and prodded it up and down; the eye whizzed around, staring at them all in turn. 'I want three hundred and sixty degrees visibility on the return journey.'

'How're we getting-wherever we're going?' Harry asked.

'Brooms,' said Lupin. 'Only way. You're too young to Apparate, they'll be watching the Floo Network and it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorised Portkey.'

'Remus says you're a good flier,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice.

"Duh, youngest seeker in a century. They don't just give away the title you know." Ron said, not appreciating anyone who questioned Harry's ability on a broom.

"Maybe you should also remember that he out flew a dragon." Ginny suggested, watching many people's faces confused, curious - and, once again - full of awe.

"It was during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I'll explain later, but can we please read, its taking forever!"

Nobody wanted an angry female Weasley yelling at them, so they all fell silent. ****

'He's excellent,' said Lupin, who was checking his watch. 'Anyway, you'd better go and get packed, Harry, we want to be ready to go when the signal comes.'

'I'll come and help you,' said Tonks brightly.

"Pfft. Everything about you is bright. Your hair, clothes, personality. You should be named Sparky or something!" Sirius teased.

"You call me Sparky and I'll shove my wand so far up you ass that sparks are coming out of your nose, go it Black?"

"Yep," squeaked Sirius. He really should remember not to mess with woman in his family. They were deadly.****

She followed Harry back into the hall and up the stairs, looking around with much curiosity and interest.

'Funny place,' she said. 'It's a bit too clean, d'you know what I mean? Bit unnatural. Oh, this is better,' she added, as they entered Harry's bedroom and he turned on the light.

"Let me guess, it was an absolute dump," Hermione asked, her tone slightly exasperated.

"In his defense, it is his room so he can have it how he wants it. Also, he's had a lot going on the last couple of days," Tonks said, remembering the state of the room. The mess had looked chaotic, but when she looked closer, she had noticed that most of the mess had been thrown around in frustration.****

His room was certainly much messier than the rest of the house. Confined to it for four days in a very bad mood, Harry had not bothered tidying up after himself. Most of the books he owned were strewn over the floor where he'd tried to distract himself with each in turn and thrown it aside; Hedwig's cage needed cleaning out and was starting to smell; and his trunk lay open, revealing a jumbled mixture of Muggle clothes and wizards' robes that had spilled on to the floor around it.

"Boys," Mrs Weasley and Ginny complained. Then Ginny's face turned to on of horror at the thought of turning into her mum.

Fred and George noticed her distress but just sniggered to themselves.****

Harry started picking up books and throwing them hastily into his trunk. Tonks paused at his open wardrobe to look critically at her reflection in the mirror on the inside of the door.

'You know, I don't think violet's really my colour,' she said pensively, tugging at a lock of spiky hair. 'D'you think it makes me look a bit peaky?'

"Don't answer," Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Sirius all shouted to the book. Each one had been caught out by a variety of females asking about their appearance. ****

'Er-' said Harry, looking up at her over the top of Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland.

'Yeah, it does,' said Tonks decisively. She screwed up her eyes in a strained expression as though she was struggling to remember something. A second later, her hair had turned bubble-gum pink.

'How did you do that?' said Harry, gaping at her as she opened her eyes again.

"You did just kinda spring it on him. Ever heard of talk now, and demonstrate later." Ginny asked.

"That is not even a real saying so I refuse to acknowledge it." Tonks huffed,crossing her arms and lifting her head high. ****

'I'm a Metamorphmagus,' she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could see her hair from all directions. 'It means I can change my appearance at will,' she added, spotting Harry's puzzled expression in the mirror behind her. 'I was born one. I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great.'

"What happens if they're looking specifically for a metamorphmagus?" Luna asked, her eyes as wide as before but sparkling with some unknown intelligence.

"I'd have to stay in one shape and not change."

"You've changed shapes lots of times whilst we've been in this room. I don't think your comfortable not changing." Whether she knew it or not, Luna was hitting onto unchartered territory and if she didn't back down soon, she'd have a very angry Auror on her hands. Tonks decided just to let it go. However, she was wondering if she'd be able to stay in one shape, it was not something she'd ever had to do before.

**'You're an Auror?' said Harry, impressed. Being a Dark-wizard-catcher was the only career he'd ever considered after Hogwarts.**

Tonks and Moody sent smug looks over to Molly, who looked slightly disheartened. Why couldn't a few more of her children pick safer jobs. One was breaking into Egyptian tombs with terrifying curses in them, one was chasing dragons. The twins were set on opening their own joke shop and she knew that Ron would stick by Harry's side and become an Auror. She was even sure that Ginny would be taking off into the sky to play professional quidditch. Only Percy had picked a low-danger level job and now he no longer wanted to be a part of the family.

Molly stopped herself from bursting into sobs, remembering her son, her little Percy. It would do no good to cry, it would only make the others upset. So, she would try and be strong. Merlin help her. ****

'Yeah,' said Tonks, looking proud. 'Kingsley is as well; he's a bit higher up than me, though. I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking. I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs?'

"I think everyone in Surrey heard you break that bloody plate. I'm surprised the Academy even let you in." Moody sighed, knowing she was lost cause. It seemed impossible to teach her any balance or co-ordination. He only hoped it wouldn't be the death of her. ****

'Can you learn how to be a Metamorphmagus?' Harry asked her, straightening up, completely forgetting about packing.

Tonks chuckled.

'Bet you wouldn't mind hiding that scar sometimes, eh?'

"You know, you're one of the first people to notice that," Hermione said. "Not the scar," she continued, noticing their confused looks. "Not many people can appreciate that Harry doesn't like the scar. It reminds him of his parent's deaths."

The room grew silent, in respect for those that were lost in the war. The somber atmosphere was quickly becoming stiffing and everyone felt weary. They hadn't even gotten to the future and they were feeling like this already. It was going to be a long few days. ****

Her eyes found the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead.

'No, I wouldn't mind,' Harry mumbled, turning away. He did not like people staring at his scar.

"Oops, sorry book-Harry. Guess my curiosity got the better of me," Tonks remarked, not at all bothered by the looks being sent her way, questioning her sanity. ****

'Well, you'll have to learn the hard way, I'm afraid,' said Tonks. 'Metamorphmagi are really rare, they're born, not made. Most wizards need to use a wand, or potions, to change their appearance. But we've got to get going, Harry, we're supposed to be packing,' she added guiltily, looking around at all the mess on the floor.

"Why don't you just use magic?" Hermione asked. Tonks chose to ignore and just gestured to the book. Hermione huffed at being snubbed and her hands clenched into fists, trying to fight down her anger towards the metamorphmagus.

**'Oh-yeah,' said Harry, grabbing a few more books.**

**'Don't be stupid, it'll be much quicker if I-pack!' cried Tonks, waving her wand in a long, sweeping movement over the floor.**

**Books, clothes, telescope, and scales all soared into the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk.**

**'It's not very neat,' said Tonks, walking over to the trunk and looking down at the jumble inside. 'My mum's got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in neatly-she even gets the socks to fold themselves-but I've never mastered how she does it-it's a kind of flick-' She flicked her wand hopefully.**

"Andy was always a neat freak, we used to pay her to do our rooms when the dear old mum ordered the elves to let us do everything ourselves. I swear, that woman made a fortune!" Sirius proclaimed, remembering better times, before he had been forced to act a certain way and before Voldemort had ensnared his parents.

Running a hand through his now graying hair, Sirius sighed softly to himself. He really needed to get back in touch with Andy, he hadn't spoken to her since his imprisonment.****

One of Harry's socks gave a feeble sort of wiggle and flopped back on top of the mess in the trunk.

"You're hopeless!" Tonks just glared at Charlie, who was just as bad as her when it came to house hold spells. What she really needed was a house elf, but she could never find the time to purchase one. She wondered if Hogwarts had any elves who were willing to work. ****

'Ah, well,' said Tonks, slamming the trunk's lid shut, 'at least it's all in. That could do with a bit of cleaning, too.' She pointed her wand at Hedwig's cage. 'Scourgify.' A few feathers and droppings vanished. 'Well, that's a bit better- I've never quite got the hang of these householdy sort of spells. Right-got everything? Cauldron? Broom? Wow! A Firebolt!'

"This was what really allowed him to out fly a dragon," Charlie said, his eyes alight in excitement. "It is capable of going from nought to one hundred and fifty miles per hour in ten seconds. The Firebolt also boasts an unbreakable Braking Charm, superb balance and precision, and hovers at a reasonable mounting height when let go." He was now bouncing in his seat, his enthusiasm causing a few people to laugh.

Hermione and Emmeline shook there heads at the Quidditch enthusiasts who were all practicaly slobbering over the mention of a mere broom. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Harry sounded in her head, 'It's not just a broom, 'Mione, it's the broom!'

**Her eyes widened as they fell on the broomstick in Harry's right hand. It was his pride and joy, a gift from Sirius, an international-standard broomstick.**

"Sirius, because I'm your favourite family member ..."

"By default because most of them are evil, dead, in prison, Death Eaters, insane or they like cats," He shuddered at the last one. The only decent cat in the whole world was Crookshanks as he was part kneazle and helped him catch Peter. It's a shame the bastard escaped again.

"Could you pppllleeeeaaaasssseeee buy me a firebolt," Tonks was now pouting, her eyes impossibly wide with long eyelashes, pulling off the perfect puppy-dog face. Score!

"I may be horrendously rich, but it might cause problems if I walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and ask for a Firebolt, you know, me being an infamous mass murdering escaped convict who kills and cooks children for breakfast!"

"But you did for Harry!" Tonks was getting this Firebolt, she was determined and Merlin better pray she gets it or she'll skin him alive.

"Well, number 1. or A, Harry's much cooler than you and a far better flyer. I'd like to see you out fly a dragon," at this, Tonks stuck her tongue out at him. "number 2, or B, or maybe tha little (ii) you see in footnotes, we're stuck in a room, frozen in time and trying to save the future where Voldemort is king. Do you want me to continue?"

Tonks did not give up. "We'll continue his discussion after we've finished the book." She glared at him, silently daring him to even think about protesting. It's a good thing he didn't.****

'And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty,' said Tonks enviously. 'Ah well ... wand still in your jeans? Both buttocks still on?

A few snorts escaped from around the room. Moody just rolled his eyes at the girl. She may be his protegé, but she sure as hell could be annoying.

**OK, let's go. Locomotor trunk.'**

**Harry's trunk rose a few inches into the air. Holding her wand like a conductors baton, Tonks made the trunk hover across the room and out of the door ahead of them, Hedwig's cage in her left hand. Harry followed her down the stairs carrying his broomstick.**

**Back in the kitchen Moody had replaced his eye, which was spinning so fast after its cleaning it made Harry feel sick to look at it. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore were examining the microwave and Hestia Jones was laughing at a potato peeler she had come across while rummaging in the drawers. Lupin was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys.**

"Why, you should have let them think he ran away. Then they'd be pissing themselves, scared thinking that Dumbledore will bash there brains in!" Sirius cheered excitedly. Remus, however, did not.

"Someone has to be a responsable adult."

Sirius drew back as if burned. "Remus, don't worry, we'll get you some help. You'll be fine soon. Just try and stop thinking adult things like work and tax and ... responsibilities." He shuddered. Remus just rolled his eyes at the convict.****

'Excellent,' said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered. 'We've got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry-'

"They won't," Tonks said, certain the Dursleys didn't feel any type of emotion.****

'They won't,' said Harry.

Everyone just blinked in shock. Maybe Harry and Tonks were more alike than they were led to believe. ****

'-that you're safe-'

"That'll just depress them." ****

'That'll just depress them.'

"Okay, this is getting creepy now," Hestia commented.****

'-and you'll see them next summer.'

"He doesn't have to!" ****

'Do I have to?'

"Close enough." ****

Lupin smiled but made no answer.

'Come here, boy,' said Moody gruffly, beckoning Harry towards him with his wand. 'I need to Disillusion you.'

'You need to what?' said Harry nervously.

'Disillusionment Charm,' said Moody, raising his wand. 'Lupin says you've got an Invisibility Cloak, but it won't stay on while we're flying; this'll disguise you better. Here you go-'

"Are you able to disillusion inanimate objects? Or will his broom be seen with no one flying on it?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes it does, now can we just finish this bleedin' chapter and stop with all the pointless questions and gossip!" Moody yelled. Every person in the room sat quietly, unwilling to be the first to break the silence. ****

He rapped him hard on the top of the head and Harry felt a curious sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wand had struck.

"Got to admit, the boy's good at describing things," Mad-Eye spoke. No one dared call him a hypocrite though. ****

'Nice one, Mad-Eye,' said Tonks appreciatively, staring at Harry's midriff.

The Weasley twins whistled appreciatively. They could just sense that this books was gonna be full of major teasing and pranking opportunities. ****

Harry looked down at his body, or rather, what had been his body, for it didn't look anything like his any more. It was not invisible; it had simply taken on the exact colour and texture of the kitchen unit behind him. He seemed to have become a human chameleon.

'Come on,' said Moody, unlocking the back door with his wand.

They all stepped outside on to Uncle Vernon's beautifully kept lawn.

"I doubt he put any work into it. I bet Harry had to do everything all by himself. The poor boy," Molly sobbed, tears not just for her dark haired child, but for the child that was missing. ****

'Clear night,' grunted Moody, his magical eye scanning the heavens. 'Could've done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you,' he barked at Harry, 'we're going to be flying in close formation. Tonks'll be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin'll be covering you from below. I'm going to be behind you. The rest'll be circling us. We don't break ranks for anything, got me? If one of us is killed-'

"And we thought Harry was over dramatic," 2/3 of the Golden Trio spoke in unison. Even though Mad-Eye ignored them, the rest of them were laughing softly at him under their breath.****

'Is that likely?' Harry asked apprehensively, but Moody ignored him.

'-the others keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you.'

'Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously,' said Tonks, as she strapped Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage into a harness hanging from her broom.

"Tonks, you are seriously a legend. I mean, you're like Harry, all wit and sarcasm! It's great." Sirius grinned.****

'I'm just telling the boy the plan,' growled Moody. 'Our job's to deliver him safely to Headquarters and if we die in the attempt-'

'No one's going to die,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep, calming voice.

"I'm glad someone can see sense." Molly commented.

"Oi! What am I then, chopped liver?" Tonks questioned, angry at being forgotten or looked over

"You're encouraging him to look down at authority and his role models. It's not proper."

"Oh Merlin, I really can't be putting up with this at the moment, just read," ****

'Mount your brooms, that's the first signal!' said Lupin sharply, pointing into the sky.

Far, far above them, a shower of bright red sparks had flared among the stars. Harry recognised them at once as wand sparks. He swung his right leg over his Firebolt, gripped its handle tightly and felt it vibrating very slightly, as though it was as keen as he was to be up in the air once more.

'Second signal, let's go!' said Lupin loudly as more sparks, green this time, exploded high above them.

Harry kicked off hard from the ground. The cool night air rushed through his hair as the neat square gardens of Privet Drive fell away, shrinking rapidly into a patchwork of dark greens and blacks, and every thought of the Ministry hearing was swept from his mind as though the rush of air had blown it out of his head. He felt as though his heart was going to explode with pleasure; he was flying again, flying away from Privet Drive as he'd been fantasising about all summer, he was going home... For a few glorious moments, all his problems seemed to recede to nothing, insignificant in the vast, starry sky.

"I love that feeling," Charlie spoke to the room at large. To be something so tiny, insignificant, somewhere where the Gods once lay. That was true magic, that shot of pure freedom that could never be found anywhere else.****

'Hard left, hard left, there's a Muggle looking up!' shouted Moody from behind him. Tonks swerved and Harry followed her, watching his trunk swinging wildly beneath her broom. 'We need more height... Give it another quarter of a mile!'

Harry's eyes watered in the chill as they soared upwards: he could see nothing below now but tiny pinpricks of light that were car headlights and streetlamps. Two of those tiny lights might belong to Uncle Vernon's car... The Dursleys would be heading back to their empty house right now, full of rage about the nonexistent Lawn Competition ... and Harry laughed aloud at the thought, 

"I don't care what the fat lard says, as long as Harry is safe." Sirius said, hiding his face in his legs, like a child, unaware of the world around him.

**though his voice was drowned by the flapping robes of the others, the creaking of the harness holding his trunk and the cage, and the whoosh of the wind in their ears as they sped through the air. He had not felt this alive in a month, or this happy.**

"He'll catch his death in that weather," Molly was once again slowly becoming more worried about Harry. It seemed that even the Aurors in the room didn't regard his safety as they should. The poor boy looked frozen when he arrived.

"Don't worry, Molly, I convince Mad-Eye to get us out of the weather soon." Tonks didn't really know why she was trying to give the woman some semblance of comfort as it was obvious that Molly didn't really like her. Nevertheless, she knew when to pick her fights and no one really wanted a Weasley woman as an enemy. She shuddered to herself, imagining her in battle. It was a scary thought.

**'Bearing south!' shouted Mad-Eye. 'Town ahead!'**

**They soared right to avoid passing directly over the glittering spiderweb of lights below.**

**'Bear southeast and keep climbing, there's some low cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!' called Moody.**

"Alastor, maybe you should just focus on getting Harry there quickly and put faith in your disillusionment charm. I doubt anyone would want to go through a cloud." Noticing the varying horrified looks on many people's faces, Dumbledore took it on himself to keep the peace.

The only reply he got was a snort and a brief muttering about 'I didn't know you were an Auror for over 50 yrs Albus." Believing the statement was not meant for him, he hummed happily under his breath, wondering if lemon drops would be supplied at Lunch.****

'We're not going through clouds!' shouted Tonks angrily, 'we'll get soaked, Mad-Eye!'

Harry was relieved to hear her say this; his hands were growing numb on the Firebolt's handle. He wished he had thought to put on a coat; he was starting to shiver.

"Oh, Harry, even when you're not in school, you're always putting yourself in danger, he'll probably get ill, the poor dear."

"Mrs Weasley, this already happened, he's didn't get ill and ... wait, I can't actually remember getting sick. I mean, he's been injured and in the hospital wings more times than I can count, but nor for an illness." Hermione said, wondering if this was another form of Wandless magic. It was a valid theory, she supposed, if Harry was subconsciously allowing his magic to keep his body healthy (well, healthier than what it should have been.)

Dumbledore looked interested and made up his mind to speak to Poppy later. He also wanted a full medical check on the boy, Merlin knows what else he's hiding. The twinkle seemed to disappear from his eyes as he thought about Harry. He had wronged the lad, he was sure of that. He never realised the consequence of his actions. Sometimes, he expects the best in people. The Dursleys seemed to prove him wrong though,. every time. ****

They altered their course every now and then according to Mad-Eye's instructions. Harry's eyes were screwed up against the rush of icy wind that was starting to make his ears ache; he could remember being this cold on a broom only once before, during the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff in his third year, which had taken place in a storm. 

Fred, George, Hermione and Ron shivered in horror at the memory of the game. Even Hagrid looked pale and Dumbledore's face was etched with guilt.

"What happened!" Mrs Weasley demanded, concerned about the looks of horror on the Hogwarts residents faces.

"There were Dementors,"

"And you know how they affect Harry,"

"So when they came onto the pitch,"

"He fainted and fell of his broom,"

"30 feet of the ground." The twins finished, remembering watching their brother fall, lifeless and pale, toward the ground below. They were frozen at the time, they couldn't move, only watch. It was terrifying.

Molly's mouth opened a few times and then closed again, unsure how to answer to that. The colour had completely drained from her face and her hands were visibly shaking.

**The guard around him was circling continuously like giant birds of prey. Harry lost track of time. He wondered how long they had been flying, it felt like an hour at least.**

Molly and Dumbledore sighed at Moody's obvious diversions as the journey should have only taken them half an hour at the most. ****

'Turning southwest!' yelled Moody. 'We want to avoid the motorway!'

Harry was now so chilled he thought longingly of the snug, dry interiors of the cars streaming along below, then, even more longingly, of travelling by Floo powder; it might be uncomfortable to spin around in fireplaces but it was at least warm in the flames... Kingsley Shacklebolt swooped around him, bald pate and earring gleaming slightly in the moonlight... Now Emmeline Vance was on his right, her wand out, her head turning left and right ... then she, too, swooped over him, to be replaced by Sturgis Podmore...

'We ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we're not being followed!' Moody shouted.

"Are you mad, Alastor! We don't want Harry frozen to his broom stick." Molly sniffed in distaste. Couldn't he see how dangerous his lifestyle was and what a bad effect it had on Harry. Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, conveying their thoughts silently. If Harry was here, he would not like Mrs Weasley's constant mothering. At all.****

'ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?' Tonks screamed from the front. 'We're all frozen to our brooms! 

Molly blushed under the amused stares. Well really, how juvenile. It's not like she was wrong to say such a thing.

**If we keep going off-course we're not going to get there until next week! Besides, we're nearly there now!'**

**'Time to start the descent!' came Lupin's voice. 'Follow Tonks, Harry!'**

"Whooh! Go Moony, ever the peace keeper!" Sirius decided it was far to quiet, but to be truthfully honest, he didn't really feel like speaking much. He just wanted his Pup in front of him, safe from harm.

"I've had to play peace keeper far to often being friends with you. Half the time it was teachers I had to convince!" Remus was now stuck in memories of a happier time, where him being a werewolf didn't matter and he and his friends were also up to mischief. ****

Harry followed Tonks into a dive. They were heading for the largest collection of lights he had yet seen, a huge, sprawling crisscrossing mass, glittering in lines and grids, interspersed with patches of deepest black. Lower and lower they flew, until Harry could see individual headlights and streetlamps, chimneys and television aerials. He wanted to reach the ground very much, though he felt sure someone would have to unfreeze him from his broom.

'Here we go!' called Tonks, and a few seconds later she had landed.

Harry touched down right behind her and dismounted on a patch of unkempt grass in the middle of a small square. Tonks was already unbuckling Harry's trunk. Shivering, Harry looked around. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.

"I suppose we could come up with some bull shit, saying no one would think to luck for them in a run down street. That's more Death Eater style." Tonks commented. Mrs Weasley shot the metamorphmagus a disapproving look. Honestly! Such language around children. Being an Auror gave her no excuse for the appalling language and death threats which seemed to spew from her lips. ****

'Where are we?' Harry asked, but Lupin said quietly, 'In a minute.'

Moody was rummaging in his cloak, his gnarled hands clumsy with cold.

"Bloody hell! If you were cold, Mad-Eye, it must have been freeezing," Ron said, trying to duck away from his Mothers swiping hand.

"Why didn't you all apply heating charms?" Hermione asked, considering that most of these people were Aurors, who, in her opinion, followed the lifestyle of 'Act now, think later.'

"Course we couldn't lass, to temperamental and it could of caused us to fall of our brooms." Mad-Eye watched as she nodded slightly in understanding. "And we were a lot higher than 30 feet." Her face instantly turned pale at the mere thought. She had a weak stomach, not a good quality to have during the war. Not that he'd want kids to fight, but he didn't really want them unprepared either. At least give 'em a fighting chance. ****

'Got it,' he muttered, raising what looked like a silver cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it.

The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He clicked the unlighter again; the next lamp went out; he kept clicking until every lamp in the square was extinguished and the only remaining light came from curtained windows and the sickle moon overhead.

"That's really cool!" Ron exclaimed. It would come in handy when ... well, it probably wouldn't, but it was still awesome. Fred and George were thinking the same thing, thoughts of pranks coming thick and fast.

"We're nearly finished the chapter, I don't suppose you could hurry up please." Hestia spoke softly, not really appreciating all the attention fixed on her. ****

'Borrowed it from Dumbledore,' growled Moody, pocketing the Put-Outer. 'That'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now come on, quick.'

He took Harry by the arm and led him from the patch of grass, across the road

"You should really look both ways when crossing the street," Molly said. Fed up of her constant worrying, the majority of the room ignored her. Arthur was busy trying to soothe his wife who was pale with worry.

**and on to the pavement; Lupin and Tonks followed, carrying Harry's trunk between them, the rest of the guard, all with their wands out, flanking them.**

"Not suspicious at all," Fred chimed in, helpfully. Moody's glare though was even worse than Harry's so he decided not to comment on any plan of his in the future. ****

The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from an upper window in the nearest house. A pungent smell of rotting rubbish came from the pile of bulging bin-bags just inside the broken gate.

'Here,' Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of parchment towards Harry's Disillusioned hand and holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the writing. 'Read quickly and memorise.'

"That's really unsafe. What if you were captured by Death Eaters, they'd know Headquarters immediately," Really, Hermione thought, they all lacked common sense! ****

Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said:

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"Ah, home sweet home," The room turned around at the voice, recognising it almost instantly despite it being a bit deeper than usual and still fogged with sleep. Everyone's eyes widened as they took in Harry. Oh my.

* * *

Ta da! Finished this chapter, and let me tell you, it took me forever!

If you'd review, I'd be extremely grateful. Cross my heart!

Thanks for reading, tell me what you think ... was it terrible? Did it fit in well? Is their too much dialogue? I don't know, you tell me.

Thanks for reading,

Vickie1996 xxx


	7. The Stud

**Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J. . I do this for my own entertainment and no profit. **

Just a quick shout out to all my reviewers! Thanks for the comments and advice. It was mentioned that I seem to include a lot of dialogue in between the reading and the sole reason for this is because when I've read stories like this in the past, I find myself surprised at how little the characters react. Most of the wizards/witches assembled are curious and talkative. Despite the whole situation being unrealistic, if you were asked to sit in a room with many people to read a book, I doubt you would be able to do it without speaking. However, I do admit that I may have taken it to extreme measures, I shall try to cut down on unnecessary dialogue.

Thanks again, hope you enjoy -

* * *

Previously -

_"Ah, home sweet home," The room turned around at the voice, recognising it almost instantly despite it being a bit deeper than usual and still fogged with sleep. Everyone's eyes widened as they took in Harry. Oh my._

Where Harry stood was a man. Not just any man either, a man who oozed sheer sexuality. Gone were the last traces of childhood and in their place was a strong and built warrior. His build was no longer the slim, 5'7 they remembered but was replaced by a lean form, tall and built with muscles; conditioned from manual labour forced by the Dursleys and Oliver's gruelling Quidditch practices. Thankfully, in Tonk's mind at least, he wasn't too bulky.

He was taller than before, that much was obvious. Whereas, previously, he had just pushed 5'7, he now stood at a confident 6'2. The material of his T-shirt was straining against his muscles, even more defined and giving the impression of danger. His hair looked the same although it was even more thoroughly ruffled, most likely due to sleep. And his eyes, oh gosh! Before they were brilliant but without the lenses, it was like an unleashed power, green flames dancing, searching deep into your soul.

Tonks stared at the man in front of her with wide eyes. He lifted an arm to rub the back of his neck, extremely aware of the eyes that trailed him. The movement, however, lifted his shirt slightly, showing a hint his sculpted abs. Words failed her.

As the silence stretched for another minute, Serenity took it upon herself to break the mounting awkwardness. A note fell softly, twirling its way towards Hermione, whose eyes had been wide taking in Harry's new look. Her face was tinged pink as she picked up the note, forcing herself to look away from the man before her.

_Hey guys, _

_I don't know how to word this, but, I may or may not have fucked up the potion. I seem to have added a slight aging agent, completely by accident, to the potion, which, as you may have figured out, has made Harry old. Not really old, or even old, but just a bit older than he was. Mum was in hysterics when I told her my mistake. _

_From what I can calculate, your probably, physically any way, around maturity, say 17/18. So no more growth spurts for you young man! So ... yeah. Happy aging day! Unfortunately, that was the good news. The bad news is that Ruthlock leaves, which caused the aging, have some slight side effects. _At this point, many sentences were scribbled out, as if Serenity had no clue how to word the letter. _Temporary changes in his behaviour may appear, perhaps more rash and bold. Yeah, that's a good explanation. So ... yeah._

_Serenity, failed Potions Mistress of the Rebellion. _

Harry looked at the letter in amusement, silently thankful for his growth. However, he knew know that he looked more intimidating than the skinny kid he was, which means that opponents may not under-estimate him. This was a severe disadvantage, but hopefully he could find a few benefits of his improved physique.

At this thought, his eyes trailed over to Tonks, whose hair had changed to her familiar violet. It fell a little past her ears and instead of it making her look less feminine, it made her look like pixie, making her cheekbones more evident and her mischievous eyes a prominent feature on her face. Harry knew he found her attractive, but what hope was there for a 15 year old kid.

Despite this knowledge, he couldn't help but wink at her and took pleasure in the blush which quickly spread across her cheeks. Whilst he was observing the Metamorph, another package fell from the sky, landing in front of Harry. Opening it quickly, hoping it was a larger shirt as the one he was wearing was uncomfortably tight, he was met with a very feminine shirt. Looking at the writing, he chuckled to himself. Moving over to Tonks, he passed her the shirt.

"A gift for you..." he said, his voice deep. Just those words set alight a fire deep within her. "My Lady," he practically purred, a smirk painting his lips. He felt satisfied at seeing the blush deepen. She took the shirt off him and looked at the writing. Trying to ignore the effect he had on her, she smiled brightly, clutching the t-shirt whilst giggling.

"Turn around," she ordered, using his body to hide from the enquiring looks. He did as she asked and just grinned at the confused looks. A Weird Sister T-shirt flew over his head, hitting Ron in the face. After spluttering for a few moments and turning an unattractive shade of red, Ron threw the T-shirt away.

"Move slave," Tonks proclaimed. At this, he moved and was unable to contain his loud laughter. Across her chest, in large red letters, the words 'OWNS A STUD' stood out against the black shirt. At seeing this, the teens laughed, although a few disapproving looks were thrown around by the adults.

Sirius snorted. Trust his pup to turn into a stud, taking after his dogfather. Sirius vowed to himself, as he watched Harry sit down next to his little cousin, that he would teach him all he knew in Stud-ology. Although it seemed that he wasn't having any problems so far.

Tonks was soon poking his biceps, as all the students gathered in a group away from the adults.

"Blimey Harry, you been working out?" At this, Tonks winked at the amused boy - no, man - next to her. Soon though, Harry's change was forgotten about as the teens started whispering and plotting. What they were plotting was unknown to the adults, but was causing them to become wary. Remus had to practically hold Sirius back from joining the joking students, and Tonks.

Severus, who was no longer chained, moved himself to a seat besides the Headmaster.

"I don't suppose you know what the side effects of Ruthlock leaves are, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes peering at the sour man before him.

At this, Snape sneered. Ruthlock leaves, whilst known for their miraculous properties in nutrition potions, were only to be used for fully matured wizards. To do so on a child, still growing, had considerable side effects. Most being mood swings. However, not only were mood swings a notable side effect, but confidence, especially sexual confidence, increased. Severus was also sure that he had read somewhere, possibly an old Potions Journal, that a man had experienced an alarming boost in libido.

As he reported this to the Headmaster, he spied Potter relaxed with his lackeys surrounding him. He noted that the young metamorph had moved closer to Harry, and was sat with her head resting on his shoulder. He also noticed Potter's arm, which was around Tonks. He was, perhaps subconsciously, holding her close against his body and his hand was lazily tracing patterns on her bare arm.

Whilst the dunderheads around him didn't notice, Severus was surprised that Mad-Eye didn't. Surely he was protective towards his protegé? Considering the side effect of the potion, he may as well have handed the lamb over to the wolf. Although the side effects didn't take place immediately, usually taking a day or two to unfold and lasting for a few days more, it was still a concern. He didn't need a randy and lustful Potter in his midst. He may just go mad.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he watched as Mad-Eye got the attention of the group. Happy to be ignored, Severus sat back and prepared to observe from the side lines, whilst keeping an eye on Potter.

"**Number Twelve Grimmauld Place,"** Arthur began, hoping that this chapter passed without incident. He really didn't want his Mollywobbles to become worried again.

Everyone got settled comfortably as he began to read.

* * *

Ta da! Not my best, I may go back and edit it, but it's done. I realise that I am probably making Harry over powered, but hopefully, later on you'll see that it isn't ridiculously so.

As for the Harry/Tonks development, I believe trying to close the age gap a bit more will help and ... well, you'll just have to see how far that Ruthlock will make Harry go ;)

Don't be afraid to comment/review. Any criticism is appreciated :)

Toodles xxx


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